Cell phone plans refer to the type of agreement one makes with their cell phone provider in terms of services offered, rate paid and length of contract. Cell phone plans can vary from service provider to service provider, and each provider generally offers a variety of plans to choose from.

Cell phone plans often involve some sort of contract, with the exception of pay as you go plans.http://cellphones.about.com/od/serviceplananalysis/a/payasyougo.htm Plans can include features such talking, text messaging, voice mail and mobile Internet service. Some plans restrict minutes, texts or Web usage, while others offer unlimited access to services.http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/plansingleline.jsp

There are three basic types of cell phone plans. These are individual plans, family plans and pay as you go cell mobile phones. An individual plan is for one person with a single phone. Often, a set number of minutes is offered with each particular plan, and these minutes may only be used by a single phone number. In contrast, a family plan allows more than one person to share a set number of minutes.http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000117211 In both of these cases, overage fees will apply if more minutes than are allotted are used (or texts, or Web activity). However, some plans offer unlimited services, usually for a higher fee than with limited plans.

With pay as you go plans, the services are all paid in advance so there are no contracts and no way to accumulate overages.http://cellphones.about.com/od/serviceplananalysis/a/payasyougo.htm