No time like the present to switch cell phones or plans

If you want to cut your cell phone bill or buy a new smart phone on the cheap, you're in luck these days.

Thanks to increasing competition in the wireless industry, you may save lots of money by defecting from one wireless carrier to another. You could also stick with your current provider after extracting a rate cut and added benefits.

Andy Reppe of New Richmond, Wisconsin, dumped Verizon for T-Mobile.

"I had five people on my plan and I was paying like around $270," he said. "When it was said and done, switching I was paying about $75 less."

Although T-Mobile's coverage hasn't been as broad and reliable as Verizon's, Reppe said that's a price he's willing to pay.

"I'll take a dropped call, saving $75 a month," he said.

A price war has broken out among the wireless carriers, ignited by the efforts of T-Mobile and Sprint to upgrade their networks and lure customers away from AT&T and Verizon with lower prices and sweeter deals. That's forced the big two to respond.

Consumers also can save money by turning to resellers like Metro PCS and Boost, which offer the big carriers' services at a discount.

Mike Claessens, the general manager of the Best Buy Mobile store in Richfield, said he has never seen such price wars during the 15 years he has sold wireless services.

"This past year is the most competitive year I've seen between the carriers, vying for the customers' business and offering the best deals I've ever seen in the marketplace," he said.

Sprint claims AT&T and Verizon customers can cut their bills in half by switching to Sprint. T-Mobile's offers include four lines with unlimited talk, text and data for $100 a month.

Meanwhile, Verizon has been offering defecting families up to $600 in bill credits. AT&T has doubled the data offered with many plans.

Both AT&T and Verizon have warned that a rise in defecting customers and increased price competition is putting pressure on their profits.

"For the customer who wants to spend less, this is the time," telecommunications industry analyst Jeff Kagan said. "It seems every week, another carrier jumps in with another deal."

Kagan said competition has been intensifying because virtually everyone has a cell phone.

"There are no new customers left," Kagan said. "At this point, they're just going to be stealing customers from each other. So, it's a question of both hanging on to your existing customers and trying to convince customers from other carriers to switch to you. That's why we're seeing more deals, better quality and reliability."

At the end of 2013, Verizon Wireless controlled 36.5 percent of the U.S. wireless market, followed by AT&T with 32.5 percent, Sprint with 15.5 percent and T-Mobile with 10.9 percent, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Kagan said AT&T and Verizon have the best nationwide networks. But T-Mobile and Sprint have invested billions to broaden and improve their networks, while attacking the industry leaders on price. He expects the battle to last at least a few years, given that the major players seem more likely to fight each other for customers than merge.

Of course, within different parts of the Twin Cities metro area, different carriers have varying strengths and weaknesses in coverage.

Kagan advises people considering a switch in carriers to first test a service where they live, work, shop and otherwise spend time. Wireless carriers are open to that. T-Mobile will lend prospective customers an iPhone and give them seven days to check out the carrier's service free of charge. Verizon, AT&T and Sprint generally give new subscribers 14 days to try their services and cancel without penalty.

Wireless subscribers also need to consider what best fits their data and content needs. For instance, some might benefit from free unlimited streaming music. Others may not.

There are increasing opportunities to save on phones, too.

With the exception of Apple, which makes the iPhone, most phone manufacturers are offering smartphones that are half, a third or less of the price of the most expensive phones on the market.

There's been an explosion in inexpensive smartphones from Samsung, LG, Motorola and other manufacturers.

The bargain phones are not in the same class as flagship phones that cost consumers more than $500. But many of the phones are quite good and don't require being locked in to a two-year contract, said Ramon Llamas a mobile industry analyst for International Data Corporation (IDC).

The devices also are priced low enough that people can readily buy the phones outright and avoid the hassles and constraints that go with getting a phone through a traditional two-year contract with a carrier.

"You don't have to spend iPhone dollars to have an iPhone experience," Llamas said. "There's a number of smartphones and vendors out there whose entire strategy is courting this low-cost segment of the market."

In the third quarter of this year, devices costing $200 or less accounted for about a third of U.S. smartphone sales, according to IDC. That's about double the market share the phones had a year earlier.

There's also a mix of phones in the $200 to $300 price range, including the OnePlus One "Flagship Killer."

One thing for sure about the less expensive phones: People find it less painful when the devices meet their demise. Tamer Azzazi, general manager of World of Wireless, has seen many folks come to his stores looking to repair or replace a phone that has perished.

"For a basic user, someone getting their first phone, perhaps a child, you're not going to really shed many tears over a phone that got dropped that cost $50 versus one that costs $700 to replace," he said.