Talk Isn't Cheap? For Cellphone Users, Not Talking Is Costly Too.

March 10, 2009 at 12:01 am PT

If you’re like most cellphone users, you probably think you’re paying less than 10 cents per minute for calls. Think again.

When you do the math, you find the average cellphone customer actually pays more than $3 per minute, according to a report being issued this week by the Utility Consumers’ Action Network, a San Diego consumer advocacy group.

I got a sneak peek at the report the other day.

Researchers arrived at the average $3.02 per-minute charge by comparing the average number of minutes charged in more than 700 San Diego consumers’ telecom bills and dividing by the average number of actual minutes used.

“We knew it was a myth that wireless costs were going down,” said Michael Shames, UCAN’s executive director. “But we were blown away by the actual costs.”

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Tagged with: cellphone, David Lazarus, LA Times, minutes, San Diego, telecom, Utility Consumers’ Action Network, wireless

comments so far. Add yours.

  • James Roland

    Although the calculations arriving at $3 a minute are quite suspect, we should not miss the point entirely.

    Been asking around a bit and a lot of people are paying on average 30-47c per minute. Yes, $3 is outrageous, but I think 30c per minute is outrageous too.
    We are promised low call rates to compensate for the fact that we sign (up to two year) contracts, yet it is obvious that we are being suckered. On prepaid you can get per minute rates of 10c, anytime, anywhere. No hidden fees, no roaming or other charges. You only pay for what you use. If you want to use it more you can top up at the same low rate. No overage charges. I use NET10, which gives me better coverage I had on contract anyway.
    The author of the report needs to check the figures. But they ARE highlighting a valid issue. Everybody should be having a second look at those cell phone bills.

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