Its true that prepaid wireless service is typically less expensive than postpaid monthly plan rates. Especially when you consider the fact that 20% of all minutes on contract plans go unused month to month.

Also, the average contract plans monthly bill is at least 20% higher than what customers were told point of sale. With prepaid cell phone service there are no surprises and no hidden charges.

Prepaid cell phone services allow the user to pay only for the airtime minutes and text messages that are actually used. And its easy to load an account with exactly what you need, rather than having to pick between multiple plans that may not cater to your exact usage habits.

Some advocates of privacy also point out that GPS tracking systems in cell phones are an invasion of personal freedom. With prepaid service a user is not tied down to the same handset and can easily switch phones for free.

Also today prepaid cell phone users can choose from a wide range of brand name handset models. Motorolla, Nokia, and other top-of-the-line phones are available through many prepaid wireless providers and in many cases for free!

In recent years prepaid cell phone services was reserved for people with bad credit and low financial means. No longer is this the case at all.

The plain and simple truth is people are getting tired of being pushed around by the major wireless companies. Consumers have had it with unfair contract terms, hidden costs, and outrageous monthly bills.

Over 60% of the worlds cell phone users are on some form of prepaid plan. So quite officially, most people on this planet who use wireless phones have walked away from postpaid contract plans.

Its actually reasonable to speculate that contract plans could go away altogether over the course of the next five years. Or perhaps theyll become an eccentric novelty service that caters to the affluent consumer with so much disposable income he or she isnt even worried about losing money.

Who can say for sure? But one thing is absolutely certain:

More people every day are dumping their contracts and turning to prepaid cell phone services. At the current rate of growth its reasonable to expect the prepaid wireless industry to have 75% of the world wireless market share in less than a decade.

Even now almost all traditional wireless services are bringing pay as you go plans to the forefront of their marketing efforts. Companies like Alltel, Verizon, and AT&T all offer prepaid service at the time of this writing.

However the majority of consumers who use prepaid service prefer companies that specialize in pay as you go. Net 10, Tracfone, and Virgin Mobile all rate extremely high on consumer Websites and these companies normally offer rates and plans that are much more affordable than any of the prepaid offers made by standard contract wireless services.

The next five years will be interesting to watch. With Verizon already buying Alltel and Cingular becoming AT&T, what big changes will come next and how much of what lies ahead will be shaped by the migration toward prepaid service?