With carriers changing their policies on billing to match the increased use of data, it may be a good time to switch to unlocked cell phones.

The Droid Eris

So here's the deal: Verizon is canning it's unlimited plan for data. Now, like AT&T, it will go to a tiered plan, charging $30/month for 2GB (the current price for unlimited data), $80 for 10GB, and so forth. T-Mobile also has a tiered plan, althouth it limits data use rather than charge fees once the cap is hit, and Sprint remains the only everything plan left.

Of course, with unlocked cell phones you can jump to the carrier with the best, most affordable plan for your usage. Or you can easily forgo having a carrier, and pre-pay or pay-as-you go with an alternative plan.

Depending on your needs, unlocked cell phones may be the most affordable solution to carrier's decision to hike up the amount it costs to pay for data usage. Recent data suggests that more users have used cell phones in place of other devices like cameras, making connecting to the internet and uploading data an increasingly common, and for many users, vital activty.

Of course, if you're looking to cut costs unlocked cell phones may help in other ways. Unlocked cell phones can be bought without signing  contract with a carrier, so if you don't like the new plans, you don't have to commit!