A simple guide to buying cellphone service in 2015

The truth is, companies like T-Mobile and Sprint are really in business to sell a wireless service, like the ability to make voice calls and use mobile data. That's what they have always been. And it's becoming more apparent than ever, with moves by these companies to stop supporting two-year contracts and subsidizing the cost of a phone. Now, new customers will pay for their phones in full upfront or in monthly installments, but separate from their cellular service.

The fact that cellphone companies are, more accurately, wireless companies is only the first big thing that this new pricing strategy will reveal. The old term is a holdover from the era when the only place to get a cellphone was from the likes of AT&T and Verizon, but that has completely changed now. For years, you've been able to buy an iPhone directly from Apple -- arguably a real cellphone company in the sense that it actually makes cellphones -- or an Android phone from Google. You can even take those devices with you from carrier to carrier. We're also about to confront, in a very direct way, the actual cost of our devices. Consumers who thought an iPhone was really as low as $200 are in for some sticker shock when they find out that it's more like $649. Just as insurance companies shield us from the true cost of health care, device subsidies have shielded many Americans from the true price of their devices.