Phone Home

With a walk around campus it’s not unusual to see a cell phone in every hand.

And when calling out-of-state friends from high school or parents back home, most SMU students have some need for a long distance plan.

Although often more convenient, cell phone rates are often higher and have added fees, such as roaming and service charges, that can send the bill through the roof.

For those willing to sacrifice mobility, SMU offers long-distance rates as low as 3.9 cents per minute with no fees if the bill is sent via e-mail.

For a higher fee, cell phone plans offer similar services with rates ranging from $35 to $100 a month, depending on the features of the phone you purchase and how many minutes you need.

Cell phone companies like Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile (formerly known as Voicestream) offer plans that allow the buyer to purchase a set number of minutes.

Plans can be restrictive, with fees as high as 40 cents per minute when the alotted amounts of minutes is exceeded. Companies tend to give a higher number of night and weekend minutes, restricting use during the peak hours of the day.

Most plans do not allow customers to carry any extra minutes over into the next month, so buyers should choose their plans carefully. Also, there may be problems with the reception around campus.

Despite these negative aspects, most students like first-year Erin Roberson are happy with their cell phone plan.

“I get really good rates on my phone with AT&T Wireless,” she said.

SMU’s long distance, with its discount plan priced at 3.9 cents a minute, it tough to beat, but it is not without its drawbacks.

In order to enroll, potential customers must call Resicom, SMU’s long-distance carrier, to switch to the plan. Residence hall phones are automatically set up on the a standard plan that costs 9 cents per minute.

Resicom customers are assigned a personal authorization code they must dial each time to get connected to a long distance number.

“The numbers you have to dial to call long distance are tedious and easy to forget,” said sophomore marketing major Celeste Caskey.

However, long distance codes aren’t the only drawbacks to the SMU hardwired long distance line.

“It’s really hard to have a private conversation on the SMU phones since your roommate can just listen to your conversation,” sophomore Anne Gray said.

For the privacy, convenience, and technology of a cell phone, it may be worthwhile to purchase one to make those long distance phone calls. However, for a student stuck inside the residence halls, Resicom’s long distance plan is hard to beat.