It is impossible to not to see ringtone ads these days. This is to be expected, given the fact that cellphones are everywhere these days too. With such a ubiquitous piece of technology, people need to personalize their device as best they can. And certainly, having a big set of ring tones is a great way to accomplish this.



And ring tones are not even the only way to personalize a mobile phone. People can get wallpapers, or images that act as backgrounds for the display on their cellphone. With newer cellphones using faster processors, wireless games have emerged as a popular addition to many cellphone models. So, now you can do lots more with your cellphone. They are now often used as an expression of the style and personality of the person that owns the cellphone.

many firms have jumped into the ringtone market hoping to profit from this desire for user creativity. Even the carriers themselves are now selling ringtones to their subscribers. The carriers and many other companies use a common business model for delivering these ringtones - the user pays a fee of between one and three dollars per ringtone in order to purchase and download the ringtone.

But some companies seem to offer free ringtones to consumers. The ads tell users to enter their phone number and they will be able to download some number of free ringtones. Is this the real story? Well, yes and no.

Look carefully at the small print. In virtually all cases, by entering the phone number you are also agreeing to sign up for a ringtone subscription plan at around ten dollars per month. This subscription plan provides you with some number of credits to spend every month on ringtones and wallpapers. By signing up, yes you do get some number of extra credits for some extra ringtones. So in some sense these are free ringtones, but you only get the free ones by paying for a somewhat costly monthly service.

So what are the alternatives? There are a few companies that offer software tools that let you to create your own ringtones from your own set of CDs or MP3 files. A package such as this will also let you use your own digital pictures to create custom wallpapers for your phone. If you are computer savvy and are able to spend some time doing this, then this can be a good option.

For people who are not willing to spend time making their own ringtones, there are other services that provide unlimited ringtone downloads for a flat fee. Generally these services are much less expensive than those services that deceptively advertise free ringtones. So it usually is a good idea to research ringtone deals fairly extensively before jumping in.

For an original version of this and other articles related to this topic, see <---****HYPERLINK****--->"http://www.plutoserver1.com/cs/spin/?c=communication">cellphone articles.