Phone Plan Perfection: Picking a Backup Phone Service Provider

I like carrying a backup phone. While the phone handset gets all the glory, I realized that without a cell plan my little backup phone would be a lot less useful.

I've found US Mobile elegantly answers the question of which cell provider should I use. What makes them unique is their custom plans can be scaled way down to match my backup phone usage.

I currently pay US Mobile $2.00 a month for 75 minutes of talking, $1.50 a month for 50 text messages and $0.00 a month for data I don't use. Of course there are fees--there's always fees--but they are relatively minimal. For about $5.00 a month I can turn any random phone into a invaluable communication device.

Another wrinkle is that my backup phone requires a 2G network. US Mobile uses T-mobile as a network provider. While T-mobile has shut down their 3G networks, 2G continues to live on. This means that the quirky device I use as a backup phone (more on that soon), work seamlessly with US Mobile SIM cards.

I don't usually find myself heaping praise on cell phone companies, but US Mobile nails it this time around.