The next little thing for cell phone customers

A cell phone targeted to teens and kids is now available in Columbia.

Marketed by Firefly Mobile and Cingular Wireless, the phones are small enough to be attached to a key chain and will only dial numbers that are programmed in the phone’s memory. Once the phone is bought for $100, minutes can be purchased through a prepaid calling plan or the phone can be added to an existing wireless plan for $10.

“The Firefly phones can be prepaid, but they’re more targeted to be an additional line on a family plan,” said Patrick Carter, a Cingular sales associate.

Although he hasn’t sold any yet, Carter said he is optimistic the phone will be a big seller.

While the kid-friendly phones have been available in Columbia for about six weeks, it was the traditional prepaid phones that were the popular holiday gift this year.

“The day after Thanksgiving we sold stacks and stacks of the cheaper prepaid phones,” Best Buy employee Keeley Duncan said. “There was a limit of eight phones per customer, and we had people fighting for their eight, hand over fist.”

While traditional prepaid phones sound like the perfect compromise for teens who want a trendy phone and parents who see them only as a security measure, there are some problems associated with them.

Buying minutes can be a tricky process involving several pin numbers. Some providers, such as Virgin-Mobile and Tracfone, require that new minutes be added before old minutes are used. According to both Virgin and Tracfone’s Web sites, failure to add minutes to the phone before they run out can result in phone deactivation, where the customer’s telephone number is revoked. Unused minutes may also expire after two to three months.

Kara Calton, a 14-year-old student at Columbia West Junior High School, just canceled her prepaid cell phone because she found it too expensive.

“I feel like it wasted my minutes faster than my mom’s normal plan,” she said.