Cellular Phone Roaming – What Does It Cost?

By far, one of the most complicated and expensive aspects of cellular service has to do with cellular phone roaming charges. Exactly how does cellular phone roaming work and, more importantly, how will I be charged for it?

Cell phone roaming as I understand it, is what my phone does when it is used outside of the service providers service area. When out of range or my service providers signal, my phone searches the airwaves for another cellular service that will send it a signal. You may want to think of roaming as the equivalent of electronic hitch hiking, with just one exception. While hitch hiking is intended to be a free ride, there's nothing free about cell phone roaming!

The very nature of a cell phone requires that it receive a signal, and when I'm out of range from my cell phone service provider it needs to find a closer signal. As much as I don't fully understand cell phone roaming, what I do know is that I don’t want to pay for it! Thankfully, two options now make that possible.

Sprint PCS customers, are now offered a Call Guard feature on their phones. This new feature prevents the phone from making or receiving roaming calls. When Call Guard is on, it will prevent cell phone roaming and force the phone to look for an in-network provider or simply read “no signal”.

The second, and probably the best option, is to choose a service provider who offers free roaming. Before signing any service contract, read the find print and found out if you will be paying cell phone roaming charges. That way you will know exactly what to expect on your cell phone bill.

Also see; cell phone accessories.

Author Notes:

Jack Adams contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.cell-phones-n-plans.com. A cellular phone industry resource that features service plan comparisons, cellular phone reviews and articles.