Did you know that mobile phones date back to 1945? They weren’t quite cellular phones back then, as they didn’t support switching from one base station to another, yet meant that people could make calls from the freedom of their gardens, cars or wherever they happened to be. It was called the Mobile Phone Service and can still be found in some rural areas.
That particular generation of phones was called 0G as it preceded the cell phone that we know today. Nowadays there are hundred of phones around, dozens of network providers and a bewildering range of options to get yourself a mobile phone.
I’m currently using two phones at the moment. My main phone is a Nokia 6230i using a PAYG SIM supplied by Manx Telecom. As I live in the Isle of Man at the moment I don’t get a choice of network provider, though that situation is going to change in the near future. My other phone is an Orange SPV 100 (running a Windows OS), on a PAYG SIM from Tesco Mobile. I only use that phone when I’m in the UK so I don’t get roaming charges. I might review this in the near future as more options come up, but I’m happy enough with the way everything works just now.
If I was living in the US, I would definetly have made different choices. Providers there are much more diverse and have to cover a much wider area. This gives them the opportunity to differenciate themselves from the competition. The best way to buy a phone in such a diverse market is to go through a broker who can offer a cross-section of the market. One such broker is a company called WireFly who offer a selection of phones and contracts from all the major suppliers. They also do family accounts, business account and a whole range of accessories. Check them out.