| All of the major cellular providers naturally | | | | Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. |
| advertise their strengths. Examples would be | | | | Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Sprint: |
| fewest dropped calls, most "anytime" minutes, | | | | 1,400 anytime min. |
| plan flexibility, etc. Some of these claims lend | | | | Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.) |
| themselves to debate; so, after grabbing | | | | 0 mobile-to-mobile min. $99.99/mo. T-Mobile: |
| brochures among the many cellular kiosks in the | | | | 2,500 anytime min. |
| local mall, we decided to check out the four | | | | Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. |
| biggies -- Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon -- | | | | 0 mobile-to-mobile min. Cingular: |
| and compare their offerings and prices. These | | | | 2,000 anytime min. |
| prices are as of June, 2006 and are based on a | | | | Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. |
| national single line in twenty major market cities in | | | | Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Verizon: |
| the U.S.: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, | | | | 2,000 anytime min. |
| Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, | | | | Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. |
| Kansas City, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, | | | | Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Sprint: |
| Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, | | | | 2,000 anytime min. |
| San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC. | | | | Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.) |
| $29.99/mo. T-Mobile: | | | | 0 mobile-to-mobile min. $129.00/mo. T-Mobile: |
| 300 anytime min. | | | | 5,000 anytime min. |
| Unlimited weekend min. | | | | Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. |
| 0 mobile-to-mobile min. Cingular: -no plan offered- | | | | 0 mobile-to-mobile min. Cingular: |
| Verizon: -no plan offered- Sprint: | | | | 4,000 anytime min. |
| 200 anytime min. | | | | Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. |
| Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.) | | | | Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Verizon: |
| 0 mobile-to-mobile min. $39.99/mo. T-Mobile: | | | | 4,000 anytime min. |
| 1,000 anytime min. only or 600 anytime min. | | | | Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. |
| Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. | | | | Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Sprint: |
| 0 mobile-to-mobile min. Cingular: | | | | 4,000 anytime min. |
| 450 anytime min. | | | | Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.) |
| 5,000 night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. | | | | 0 mobile-to-mobile min. $199.00/mo. T-Mobile: -no |
| Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Verizon: | | | | plan offered- Cingular: |
| 450 anytime min. | | | | 6,000 anytime min. |
| Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. | | | | Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. |
| Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Sprint: | | | | Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Verizon: |
| 400 anytime min. | | | | 6,000 anytime min. |
| Unlimited night min. (7:00p.m.) | | | | Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. |
| 0 mobile-to-mobile min. $49.99/mo. T-Mobile: | | | | Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Sprint: |
| 1,000 anytime min. | | | | Unlimited anytime min. The offerings above do |
| Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. | | | | not include optional upgrades offered at an |
| 0 mobile-to-mobile min. Cingular: -no plan offered- | | | | additional cost to such things as earlier night |
| Verizon: -no plan offered- Sprint: -no plan offered- | | | | minutes or unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes. |
| $59.99/mo. T-Mobile: | | | | Based on the above data, it appears that the |
| 1,500 anytime min. | | | | most cost effective provider from an "anytime" |
| Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. | | | | minutes perspective is T-Mobile. T-Mobile offers |
| 0 mobile-to-mobile min. Cingular: | | | | unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes for an additional |
| 900 anytime min. | | | | $6.99 per month. Both Cingular and Sprint offer a |
| Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. | | | | bit more flexibility as to when night minutes can |
| Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Verizon: | | | | start - also at an additional cost. Of course, pricing |
| 900 anytime min. | | | | is only part of the selection process. Regardless |
| Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. | | | | of price, the company that provides the best |
| Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min. Sprint: | | | | coverage in your area would probably still be the |
| 1,000 anytime min. | | | | way to go. But be careful. We couldn't even |
| Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.) | | | | make calls from our home with the company |
| 0 mobile-to-mobile min. $79.00/mo. T-Mobile: -no | | | | who claims the largest network. We switched to |
| plan offered- Cingular: | | | | the one offering the most anytime minutes, and |
| 1,350 anytime min. | | | | so far, we haven't found a place in our state of |
| Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min. | | | | Colorado where we haven't been able to make a |
| Unlimited mobile-to-mobile Verizon: | | | | call although the difference might have been in the |
| 1,350 anytime min. | | | | phones themselves. |