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