Alltel Wireless Cell Plans

Note that any information contained in this guide was thought to be accurate at time of publication. Please refer to your local Alltel wireless retailer or the company's official website for the most up-to-date information regarding cell phone plans and availability.

Alltel Wireless: My Circle

Exclusively available from Alltel Wireless, the "My Circle" feature is available free of charge with select Alltel Wireless plans. In a nutshell, My Circle allows you to get "unlimited calls to and from your Circle members for free."

Your circle -- of friends, family, business associates, and so forth -- is composed of ten phone numbers that you can hand select and change at anytime. This is an incredible feature for people who call certain numbers of most often. For example, a working mother who would be calling the office, home, her husband, and her children more often anyone else.

Generally speaking, My Circle is offered for free with plans that cost at least $59.99 a month. Minutes used when connecting to those ten numbers is above and beyond any included anytime minutes, both incoming and outgoing.

Alltel Wireless Cell Plans

Alltel cell plans are broken down into one of three types:

National Freedom Plans

National Freedom Alltel cell plans are designed for people on the go, especially those that travel the country on a relatively regular basis. This is because you can make use of Alltel's extensive coverage (as well as that which they provide via their roaming partners) for no additional charge whatsoever. Whether you are based in New York, Houston, or Salem, you can get all the service you're used to when you're in Denver, Minnesota, or Miami, for example.

All National Freedom plans include the following features:

• Basic voice mail
• Caller ID
• 3-way calling
• No answer transfer
• Call forwarding
• Call waiting
• Pay-per-use text messaging (10 cents, both incoming and outgoing)

Moreover, it is important to note that these plans also include:

• Unlimited evening and weekend minutes (9:00pm to 5:59am)
• Unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls among Alltel wireless customers

There are currently seven National Freedom Plans, ranging from $39.99 for 500 anytime minutes to $199.99 for 6000 anytime minutes. My Circle is included with all but the $39.99 and $49.99 (1000 anytime minutes) plans.

The additional minute rate decreases with larger plans, starting at 40 cents and ending at 25 cents.

Greater Freedom Plans

If your calling habits are such that you stay local more often than not, then you may find much greater value by having a look at the Greater Freedom plans. They also include much of the same features as the National Freedom plans (basic voice mail, caller ID, etc.), and most include unlimited evenings, weekends, and mobile-to-mobile calls (with the exception of the $29.99 and $49.99 plans, which offer 300 and 1500 anytime minutes, respectively).

The largest Greater Freedom plan is $199.99 a month, providing you with 6500 anytime minutes, unlimited evenings and weekends, and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls. Additional minutes are 25 cents each.

My Circle is included with all plans $59.99 or more.

U Prepaid Plans

For the more budget-minded consumer, or for those who don't need that many minutes each month, Alltel has their brand of prepaid calling plans.

U Prepaid from Alltel Wireless comes in three forms:

• Pay-Per-Day: 75 cents a day, plus 10 cents per minute used.

• Pay-Per-Minute: 15 cents a minute based on a minimum initial balance of $20.

• Pay-Per-Month: Choose from $29.99 (200 anytime minutes, 1000 night/weekend minutes), $39.99 (400 anytime minutes, 2000 night/weekend minutes), or $69.99 (700 anytime minutes, unlimited night/weekend, unlimited text messaging, unlimited mobile-to-mobile).

All U Prepaid plans include basic voice mail, caller ID, three-way-calling, and nationwide long distance. Roaming outside of the U Prepaid wireless service area is 59 cents a minute.

Additional Fees and Surcharges

As with most cellular service providers, Alltel Wireless also has a number of so-called "hidden" charges. Here are some of the fees that you can expect to pay:

• Federal, state, and local taxes
• Regulatory and Admin Fee (sometimes called a "system access fee")
• Federal Universal Service Fund fee, which varies based on customer usage
• State Universal Service Fund (like above, but only applicable in certain states)
• 911 fee, ranging from 37 cents to $1.94
• One-time $25 activation fee