Average Cell Phone Call = $3.02 Per Minute

I've had what I thought is a pretty good deal for many years, paying about $68 average for 2 cell phones a month with all charges totaled ($59.99 is the name of it). I even block texting since 98% of my texts were from night club promoters and events. Saved myself about $25 a month. I have the 500 minute limit as well, and have never exceeded it. Plus the wife has a business phone to use most of the time.

I still found this to be somewhat shocking, and thought about those people with cell phones glued to their ears. I know people who pay hundreds of dollars a month, yet can barely scratch by. I think we need to re-think alot of things financially these days (cell phones is a good place to start).


I read this over at Yahoo Tech:

"According to a study from San Diego's Utility Consumers' Action Network, the average cost of a wireless call is, in reality, a shocking $3.02 per minute.

Why so high? The average customer uses only 32 percent of his minute allotment, and some customers pay up to $100 a month (not including all those unadvertised fees and taxes, which push the costs even higher) for unlimited service, making for an even worse deal in the end. (Take out the worst outliers who pay a lot and use no minutes and the average is still around 75 cents a minute for cell service.)

The numbers are better, but still bad, for land-line long distance, where consumers pay an average of 55 cents per minute for long distance, when all fees are truly accounted for. It probably doesn't help that, according to the study, 90 percent of AT&T and Verizon phone bills are improperly taxed."