Fine Print Complicates Cell-Phone Rate Plans.

Byline: Sam Diaz

Apr. 12--We knew that shopping for a cell-phone rate plan was tough, but had no idea just how bad it was until we called around.

Each of the Bay Area's providers -- Verizon (formerly known as GTE Wireless), Cingular (formerly known as Pacific Bell), AT&T (formerly known as Cellular One), Sprint PCS, Worldcom and Nextel -- offered a number of plans, with plenty of "freebies" and promotions.

For the most part, the plans were pretty straightforward with a base rate and a number of included minutes.

But we wanted to know how the fine print might affect the overall bill. So we created an "average user" and put the fine print to the test.

Our test consumer uses the cell phone about 50-50 between business and personal usage. He travels out-of-state every couple of months …