When you are looking to get mobile with a cellular phone you will need to decide between several service plans offered by countless providers. Cellular service plans are essentially payment or billing plans that vary according to the nature of your connection, the usage of the connection, and your service provider.

Pre-paid and post-paid plans are the categories under which cellular service plans are classified. These are available for both CDMA as well as GSM users. Most cellular service providers have an array of pre-paid as well as post-paid plans. The difference between the two types of plan is when you pay for using the service. In a pre-paid plan you deposit a sum of money that charges your connection with limited airtime. The airtime used is debited to your account. Pre-paid connections do not require any security deposits or contracts, and you do not need to prove your identity, as there is no billing.

Post-paid connections, on the other hand, are like conventional phone connections. A customer enters a long-term contract with a service provider and deposits some money as a security. The service provider generates monthly bills and customers pay accordingly. You can choose different plan options within post-paid, depending on your usage. Post-paid connections also offer you free talk time every month.

Within post-paid service you can also opt between bill per second and bill per minute. If you opt for per-second billing you will have to pay depending on the number of seconds. Conventionally, if you spoke for 45 seconds, you were charged for the whole minute, but with per-second billing you will have to pay only for the 45 seconds. This billing plan is very useful for people who tend to have short phone conversations. If you expect to have long business calls on your phone, you can opt for either of the two billing plans.

Competition has led to an increase in the variety of connections available to users. Any subscriber needs to evaluate his requirements before opting for a plan, to get the best value for money.