The talk time minutes matter a lot. When signing up with a cell phone service provider, he will give a plan which usually comes with a set of limited number of ?peak minutes? and unlimited number of off-peak minutes. The limited numbers of ?peak minutes? are the ones which distinguish one cell phone service provider from another.

Most of the cell phone plans offer mobile-to-mobile free minutes, which give the consumer the liberty to call other people who use the same cell phone service provider free of cost. While choosing the plan a consumer should estimate how much call time he will use when calling people who use phone from a different cell phone service provider and that too during peak hours. Also the consumer should keep in mind that the start and end time of peak minutes or hours differ from one cell carrier to another. If the consumer's usage is sandwiched between two plan blocks, then it is good to pick the plan which offers more minutes as overtime minutes as when used more than the plan allows are very expensive and might considerably increase the cell phone bill.

A cell plan's off peak or night and weekend minutes should be focused incase if the consumer uses the phone more during such time. Most of the cell phone providers also offer long distance calling for free, thus making the people use their cell phones instead of their landlines. If the consumer thinks this is a lucrative option, then he should see that there is enough coverage of weekend and night minutes, as otherwise the consumer might end up paying coverage charges which defeats the long-distance charge point.

If a person is a frequent traveler, he should be well aware of the fact that roaming charges will be included if he calls from a calling area different from that of his service provider. As a consumer is supposed to get a call wherever he is and also able to make calls, he should be aware of the fact that if he is beyond his service provider's limit, he has to foot the extra bill, which might be sometimes hefty. Hence a traveler should go for a cell phone plan which offers wide roaming areas or free of roaming charges.