Students once laughed at the characters in Clueless who were so attached to their cell phones that they often called friends only a few feet away. Now, willingly or not, many students have become those characters.
According to a joint study by consulting firms Harris Interactive and 360 Youth, 67 percent of college students use cell phones. If those numbers hold true at Boston University, roughly 19,500 students use cell phones – a number that seems pretty conservative to anyone who’s ever rode the T. Each of those students has several options to pick from when choosing a cell phone provider.
The many factors students must weigh when deciding which plan to buy include the cost, the number of minutes offered and the signal strength the service provides on BU’s campus.
College of Communication junior and Nextel customer Aaronthomas Green once used Sprint, but said he switched because Nextel offered more minutes – for the same $50 a month, he gets 1,000 minutes instead of 500.
Green added that on the Nextel network, “the reception is good. Sprint had holes, but [Nextel’s] phones are pretty effective.”
Along with minutes and reception, physical appearance and special features are just as important for some cell phone shoppers.
Nextel’s Direct Connect, a feature that works like a walkie-talkie via a private network, also appealed to Green.
“You just press the button on the side, and there’s a chirp,” he said. “The call goes nationwide and you don’t have to dial a number.”
Yet with all its features, Green doesn’t like the size of his phone.
“I would say Sprint has cooler phones since Nextel phones are pretty bulky,” Green said.
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore and Sprint customer Saili Kulkarni agreed.
“I think Sprint just has better-looking phones,” she said. “They have voice dial on the phone, and just more options, and it can store more numbers.”
Kulkarni disagreed with Green about the quality of Sprint’s reception, however.
“I have no problem with Sprint,” she said. “I used to have a Nokia with AT’T service, and the reception stunk, especially at Warren Towers, but I guess all reception is bad there.”
CAS junior Sean Sapcariu sold various cell phone plans in electronics stores two summers ago and said students should consider many factors when purchasing a plan.
“Students or people in general usually see a cheap plan with 200 minutes and say that since they’re on a budget, they’ll buy the one that costs least,” Sapcariu said. “But you would most likely run out of minutes fast and pay the extra fines for additional minutes.”
Sapcariu says he prefers Verizon when it comes to reception.
“It’s a bit more expensive, but the reception is better because of the higher frequency of the phone signal broadcast it gets from cell phone towers,” he said. “The higher the frequency, the better.”
Whichever company students choose, Sapcariu advises them to stick with it because breaking contracts can carry a fee of up to $300.
“Contracts are what get students,” he said. “That’s a big thing. Once you sign up, you can’t change your plan for a year or two.”
College of Fine Arts sophomore Jen Oh said she has experienced some of those problems. Although she dislikes the reception of her current service provider, T-Mobile, she said she has remained with the service because her contract is part of a plan she shares with her family.
“T-Mobile stinks,” she said. “With T-Mobile I don’t get reception at Bay State Road, the [George Sherman Union], Warren, some places at West [Campus] and all but two places in Mugar [Memorial Library].”
Long contracts are not the only problem students may face when purchasing cell phone plans. College of Engineering sophomore and Verizon customer Josh Leyba warned about extra charges because he got slapped with a $100 fine for overusing text messaging.
“Watch out for the promotions,” he said. “They say, ‘unlimited text messaging and free nights and weekends,’ but they don’t tell you when those end,” he said. “You have to ask about that kind of stuff.”
Some students, like College of Engineering junior and AT’T customer George Zalepa, take a more low-key approach to monitoring their cell phone plans.
“I have no idea how many minutes I have, but I never go over,” he said.
Despite all the features and additions that come with phones and plans these days, Zalepa said he just worries about bare necessities.
“I’m pretty happy with my service,” he said. “There’s decent reception, and that’s all I need.”
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