3G SIM Card
Ever wondered what bit of your phone actually connects to your network, stores all your numbers and details and allows you internet access? It’s actually one of the smallest components, and it’s called a SIM (security identity module) card. The reason why you may not know what one looks like is that for the most part, contract phones come all set up and ready to go, with a 3G SIM already installed which never needs to be changed or replaced.
These small cards hold all the data about your number, which network you’re accessing, your data usage and dozens of other bits of information. It is becoming easier to buy a SIM card and a handset separately to avoid the high tariff contracts charged by most phone companies. Buying a 3G SIM card is incredibly simple and very cheap, so the main difficulty is knowing what offers are out there, and what represents good value for you.
An important task before setting out to buy a SIM card is to work out how many minutes you use currently, how many text messages you send and how much internet data you use, as these are the most common numbers that companies will wage price war with. Once you’ve worked those out, it’s time to go shopping. Each of the major phone companies (AT&T, Cingular, Verizon) offer one of two offers when it comes to SIM cards; a free SIM with a short term cheap contract, or you buy a pre-paid SIM, which has a certain amount of minutes and data attached, and then you top it up with more money once that initial lot has run out. Both can represent good value, depending on how you like to pay, and on what offers on minutes and data you can get.
Average prices from the big 3 companies mentioned about come in at around $20 a month for the first kind, which gives you 300 minutes and 250MB of internet data. It is possible to spend less, but the chances of over-running your credit means that you’ll probably end up paying more in excess data and minutes.
For the pre-paid SIM, you shouldn’t be paying more than $10, but these will only get you 100 minutes and 100MB of data, both of which run out fairly quickly. The pre-pay SIMs are better value for people who want a phone just for an emergency, or to get their children started. The contract SIMs represent better value to the average cell user.
Tags: 3g, 3G SIM Card, cingular, sim card, sim cards, text messages