Keep track of your minutes

Jul 07 2004 - 01:31 PM ET | Staff Picks

Today's edition of The Wall Street Journal has an excellent piece on keeping track of your cell phone minutes. It's a battle almost all cell phone users admit to fighting, and the article gives some great information. bq. The wireless providers don't make it easy to keep tabs, analysts say, because they get a tidy profit margin from the extra usage (none of the carriers disclose total overage revenue). A single minute of usage typically costs carriers about two cents, meaning profit margins of 90% or higher While you need a subscription to read the full article, here are the carriers that let you check your minutes on the fly: * Cingular Wireless - Dial *646# and send * T-Mobile USA - Dial #646# and send * Verizon Wireless - Dial #bal and send

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