Cell phones permit you to stay in touch with loved ones and coworkers, but there are many details involved when buying handsets that bear service contracts.  Getting one that has no contract can be a well-known way to pick and choose your personal carrier. According to leading retailer Cell2Get, which specializes in this kind of no contract phones, clients favor this kind of cell phone three to one.  Also known as unlocked phones, so-called simply because this kind of handsets aren’t “locked” into a specific carrier, meaning you could switch service providers and still have your phone work the exact same as usually, this category represents the fast-growing segment of new purchases.

Cell2Get has discovered it so lucrative that the company is considering whether or not it should dedicate itself exclusively to this kind of phones.  Doing so should reduce inventory overhead and result in even lower prices for its clients, a business spokeswoman said.  Yet there is a notable minority of customers who choose phones that come with a subscription.  This is understandable, as such handsets are normally subsidized quite heavily by the wireless carriers themselves so that you can make a subscription much more attractive.  It’s an old sales tactic, offering low upfront costs in order to lure in business, and it is for this reason that retailers will most likely continue to sell both kinds of mobile phones.

At the exact same time, pay-as-you-go services like MetroPCS and Sprint’s Boost Mobile have become very popular for those who own second and even third phones, regardless of whether individually or as a part of some type of family plan.  These carriers blur the lines between the two company models described so far, and it will prove interesting to revisit the matter in an additional five to ten years to see where the industry finds itself.  While it’s difficult to envision contracts being a thing of the past, it is safe to say that contractless wireless is here to stay.


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