Rates

Topics in this section include:

Industry-Wide Effort to Increase ARPU (Average Revenue Per User)
 As a subscriber, one of your goals in selecting a carrier and rate plan is to pay as little as possible. Watch out for the add-ons that all the carriers try to push in order to increase ARPU (insurance, detailed billing, enhanced voice mail, towing(!), etc.). Watch out for the non-governmental regulatory charges that several carriers are adding. There is nothing unethical about trying to reduce your monthly cost as much as possible by taking advantage of promotions, retention plans, discounts, etc.

Peak versus Off-Peak Hours
 Check when each carrier's weekday off-peak hours start, though now they all are at 9 p.m. (Verizon was 8 p.m. until October 15th, 2002). One of the best things about the gobs of off-peak minutes is the ability to bypass SBC's high rates for local-long distance. Cingular now offers the option to change your off-peak start time to 7:00 p.m. for an additional $7 per month with their 7-7-7 option (only available in stores, cannot be purchased on-line). Sprint is also now offering a 7:00 p.m. off-peak option, but it is not on their web site.

If you currently have better off-peak hours than what new plans offer, you will be degraded to the worse hours if you change plans (you don't get to keep the best parts of each plan). It is also possible for a carrier to degrade the off-peak hours even when you don't change plans. Sprint has retention plans with an 8 p.m. off-peak start time, but this is not offered to new customers at the start of a contract. Verizon had 8 p.m. until October 15th, 2002, be sure not to change calling plans if you have the 8 p.m. off-peak start time.

Remember that off-peak hours go by the local time of where you are calling from, not by what time it is in your home area.

Mobile to Mobile Minutes
 Look not only the number of peak minutes, but the number of Mobile to Mobile (MTM) minutes as well. If you make a lot of calls to mobile phones on the same network as your own then you may be able to choose a rate plan with less peak minutes. I.e., in one sense Verizon worsened their promotions effective August 1, 2002 (by eliminating the inclusion of 4000 off-peak minutes in their base rates), but paying the $5 for unlimited off-peak minutes and 1000 MTM minutes may allow you to choose a rate plan with fewer peak minutes and you could end up with a lower monthly bill. For me, most of my colleagues and relatives have dropped Cingular and AT&T and moved to Verizon, so I will be better off with the next lower rate plan ($35 versus $45) even though I have to pay $5 extra for MTM & NW minutes.

Check how the carrier deducts minutes from your account. For example, when calling from one Verizon phone to another you will use MTM minutes, even during off-peak hours when it would be better to use your unlimited off-peak minutes. So if possible call only to landlines or non-Verizon mobile phones during off-peak hours. I don't know how this works on AT&T or Sprint.

MTM Minutes by Carrier

AT&T: No longer offers Mobile to Mobile minutes

Cingular: Some plans offer a choice of 5000 Mobile to Mobile minutes or 5000 night and weekend minutes

Sprint: Charges $5 extra per month for unlimited Mobile to Mobile minutes on any plan $45 and up, but they are included at no extra charge on many of Sprint's unpublished retention plans.

T-Mobile: Unlimited MTM minutes on family plans (to any T-Mobile Subscriber)

Verizon: 1000 MTM minutes and unlimited NW minutes (now included, but they raised the monthly rate)

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Rate Tables

I've given up trying to keep extensive rate tables up to date. The carriers are changing their plans so often that it became too much trouble to continuously edit the tables.

I have included a small sample rate comparison. Rates that change after a few months or bonus minutes that disappear after the contract term are not included. Most carriers let you keep any promotions as long as you don't change your calling plan, even when your contract term is over. If you see mistakes in this table please e-mail me. I don't check the rates every day.

Carrier

AT&T AT&T Cingular Nextel Sprint T-Mobile Verizon
Technology TDMA+AMPS GSM GSM iDEN CDMA GSM CDMA+AMPS
Frequency (Mhz) 800+800 1900 1900 800 1900 1900 800+800
               

Peak Minutes

Local/Regional
300-350 $30 $30 $30       $30
500-600 $40 $40 $40       $403

1000-1200

 $75 $75  $50      $40   $40  $603

Peak Minutes

National On-Network 
250-300 $30 $30 $30 $36 $35 $30  
400             $403
500-600 $40 $40 $40 $46 $452 $40 $503

Peak Minutes

    National Off-Network 

400-450

$60 $601     Call   $55
1. No AMPS roaming, Requires GSM+TDMA Phone 
2. Includes unlimited Mobile to Mobile Minutes 
3. Includes 1000 Mobile to Mobile Minutes

Comments on Rates
On the national plans, AT&T, Cingular, and T-Mobile offer more minutes for less money than Nextel, Sprint or Verizon. AT&T TDMA is the best value if you need excellent coverage and do not care about advanced features or data services. On the local/regional plans, Sprint and T-Mobile have the best prices, followed by Cingular, then Verizon, with AT&T being the most expensive.

Sprint changes their plans every quarter but the changes to the web site may go into effect up to a month after the start of the quarter. The plans listed on the website ARE still valid during this time period (and this may be a way for you to get an old plan if the new ones are not as good as the old ones). Sprint often has plans that are not on their web site, i.e. they have a regional plan that they advertise in the newspaper, but it is not sold on-line.

E-mail Pre-Sales Support 

The best way to get information about coverage, products, and services before selecting a carrier is to send them an e-mail inquiry with your questions. In this way the carrier has time to investigate your question or issue and you have a better chance of getting an accurate response plus you have documentation of the carrier's statements. Unfortunately, Cingular no longer has e-mail customer support.

All of the carriers (except Cingular) use forms on their web site for e-mail correspondence

AT&T Wireless: http://www.attws.com/mobileinternet/ocs/contactus/ContactForm.jhtml

Cingular: Discontinued e-mail support.

Nextel: https://nextelonline.nextel.com/NASApp/care/WCCustomerCareServlet/

T-Mobile: http://voicestream.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/voicestream.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Sprint PCS: http://www2.sprintpcs.com/learn/form_public_question.asp

Verizon: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/vzwfly?go=/ContactUsControllerServlet&item=_FAQ_TOPIC&navigationLinkOptions=GLOBAL_HEADER

Click on Carrier Logo to Go to Their Web Site

AT&T Wireless             NEXTEL

               voicestream wireless
All trademarks, both marked and not marked, are the property of their respective owners.

Family Plans
 Family plans let you share a pool of minutes among multiple phones. Read the rate plans carefully. Some include extra minutes to use between phones on the same account, some charge extra (but a lower rate than peak minutes), some don't offer any deal on mobile to mobile minutes. T-Mobile has an awesome deal for family plans, since they don't charge extra for multiple phones (once you buy the phone). Family plans are a better way than prepaid to provide service to teenagers (if they can be trusted to use airtime responsibly).

Family Plans
AT&T Three Plans with Long Distance Included: $60/500 minutes/2 lines, $90/1000 minutes/2 lines, $120/1500 minutes/2 lines. $15 for additional lines (up to total number of 5 lines). Unlimited calls between mobiles is included. Roaming is 69¢/min
Cingular Add $20 per month per extra line (up to 4), add unlimited mobile to mobile for $10/month (total, not per line). Available on all plans over $40. Roaming is 69¢/min.
Nextel Add $4 to the Nextel Value Plan rates to share the minutes with a second phone, a very good deal
Sprint Add $20 per month for second line, for third, fourth and fifth line.
T-Mobile $70 for 800 peak minutes, $100 for 1200 peak minutes, unlimited weekend minutes, up to five phones, $10 monthly charge for each extra phone . Roaming included.
Verizon Add $20 per month per extra line (up to 4). Includes extra 250 mobile to mobile per line per month. Available on all plans except National Single Rate and plans that include unlimited NW minutes at no extra charge (the $50/500 and $60/1000 local plans). $5 charge for unlimited NW is per account, not per line. Roaming is 69¢/min (on-network roaming included on America's Choice)

Retention Plans or "We overcharge the other guy, and pass the savings on to YOU!"
 Some carriers offer exceptionally good rates to customers who complain about the cost or who call to cancel, while maintaining their regular prices for those customers that are not aware of these special rates. Due to the hassle of changing carriers (a new phone number, new phone, new commitment), customers who are satisfied with a carrier's quality of coverage and service, can often be retained simply by sweetening the deal. With number portability, expect the retention deals to be fast and furious.

Retention plans are not publicized by the carriers, but you can find out about them with a little effort (and I've done most of the effort!).

There is a very good article about retention plans in the Cellular News Stories section of this web site, but here it is again:

Let's Make a Cell-Phone Deal
Sprint is the most aggressive in retention deals, Verizon the least
Wired News, 2 May 2003

AT&T
No known retention plans

Cingular
$10/month discount on Nationwide plan with 500 peak minutes ($30 versus $40). Click for Usenet Post Reference. 

Nextel
No known retention plans

Sprint
Sprint offers retention plans that have very good prices.

There is no guarantee that you can get the rates in this table, or even that the people that claim to have gotten these rates actually got them. The rates are all over the place. Not everyone who posted their deal included all the details, hence all the question marks. The one that keeps popping up is the $36, 650 anytime minute, 8:00pm off-peak, rate; enough people have claimed to have gotten this rate that it's likely that it exists. Sorry, but in this case anecdotal evidence is all that's available.

This table is for reference only, no guarantees of its accuracy. The data does not come from Sprint, and I suspect that Sprint is not too happy about their customers sharing the details of their retention plans. Click for Table

If you are a current Sprint customer you can try to get the retention prices by calling Sprint and making noises about how their prices are too high and that you are going to a competitor if they can't do something for you. Don't explicitly ask for a retention plan--that's not how the game is played. You can bargain with them; don't accept their first offer if it seems high. Before you try for a retention plan be sure that your regular plan has the features you want (i.e. long distance, roaming, first incoming minute free, wireless web, USAA discount)., then lobby for a retention plan with the same features). The rates offered will vary by how long you have been with the company and what your payment history is; even if something is available for one person it may not be available for someone else.

T-Mobile
No known retention plans

Verizon
Not really a retention plan, because they offer it to people that have not expressed any dissatisfaction, but If you're way below using up your monthly minutes for several months, Verizon will tell you that you may be better off on a lower cost plan. They mailed me a letter advising me that I should call them to discuss my plan. When I called, they switched me from a $45 plan that included 400 peak minutes and 4000 N/W minutes, to a $35 plan that included 300 peak minutes, unlimited N/W minutes, and 250 MTM minutes (this is not a published rate plan). They did not require a contract extension. Call (866) 820-7202 to discuss changing your plan.

Comments
 Sprint feels that it's better to keep a customer, albeit at a lower rate, than having the customer go to the competition. As long as the retention plans are not widely known about, then this approach will probably work. Probably less than 0.001% of Sprint subscribers read Usenet, and no newspaper, radio or TV station would dare risk losing Sprint advertising revenue by writing or airing a story about retention plans. The upside for savvy Sprint subscribers is that they can get a much lower rate than regular subscribers.

Cingular is just starting to offer retention rates, at least in their GSM areas where they are feeling the heat from T-Mobile's awesome rates.

Special Discount Rates
 Many large employers have arranged discounted rates with cellular providers. Check to see if you or your friends and relatives have a plan that you qualify to join.

Some Discount Plans (for Qualified Individuals)

Cingular
Union members can get 5% off Cingular's national plans and 10% off Cingular's local plans, plus a $50 discount on select Motorola phones, at: http://www.letstalk.com/brands/union/newlanding2.htm. No discount on family plans, promotional plans, or $19.99 plan. There are also $50 rebates on other phones as well (you can get $50 back in addition to a free phone)

Sprint
If you are a USAA member you can get a 5% discount on Sprint (membership limited to certain active duty and retired military personnel). This discount is available on some, but not all, retention plans. Call 877 544 8722. Government employees may qualify for a 5% discount on Sprint, call 866 727 4645. Discounts are not combinable.

Verizon
Verizon has a large number of business to business plans that are open to employees of certain companies and governmental entities, and to members of certain organizations. Most universities, state governments, hospitals, health care companies, insurance companies, credit unions, large corporations, utility companies, etc., offer discount programs for wireless phone service. Your employer may have such a plan that you may not even be aware of (this was the case for me--my wife's employer offers an 18% discount). These plans are often open to retirees as well as to family members.

Typically you need a user name and password to get into the website. Be certain that you are entitled to take advantage of these discounts before signing up for service using them. Even if you get away with signing up when you are not entitled to the discount, they may check up on your employment status in the future and start charging you the full rate.

Not all handsets may be offered (cult handsets are typically excluded).

If you are unsure if your company has a plan try using the URL below, try substituting  your company name for "yourcompanynamehere." Let me know of any more discounts that you find.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2b/yourcompanynamehere

Here are a bunch of Verizon discount programs that I found simply by searching on Google, but this represents only a fraction of what's out there (you will need to get the password and user name from your employer if the site is password protected):

Emergency Only
 You can use a deactivated phone to make emergency calls to 911. This capability is required by law and also works with GSM phones with no SIM card or an unregistered SIM card.

In most cases you can also use a deactivated analog phone to place a call by dialing the number and then supplying a credit card number via an automated system or when the operator answers (very high per minute charge, typically $1 to $2 per minute); this does not work on a GSM phone with a Cingular SIM card. No incoming calls (you don't have a phone number so how can anyone call you?). It doesn't work if the phone you are using is programmed to the network that you are making the call on, i.e., an old Verizon analog phone will be recognized by Verizon analog and will not give the option for a credit card call (but if you change the preferred network from B to A then it will work with a credit card or calling card). There is no FCC requirement to accept credit card AMPS roaming from deactivated phones. There is a requirement to accept credit card calls on AMPS from subscribers to other carriers.

You can just use an old analog phone or buy a phone from a company that specializes in this service, i.e. http://www.911phone.net/index.html or http://www.mobile911alarms.com/reprogrammed/index.htm. Cost for a phone is about $45-50, and no monthly charges. However over 45 minutes of talk time per YEAR, a prepaid plan is a better deal. One advantage of these phones is that the company has removed all programming from them so they are not recognized by any carrier as one of their own phones, which means that the credit card payment option has a better chance of working, but there are ways that you can do this yourself on other phones.

I received an e-mail regarding the reprogramming of deactivated phones to make them work with a credit card:

'Reprogramming a ATT or Verizon digital phone number to 1234567890 through the NAM programming will allow the phone to connect with the B side" American Roaming network, or on ATT "A side", Wireless Roaming. Leaving a phone with it's old phone number will get you connected to the CS department of the former carrier. Try it yourself. Just need the NAM programming code. http://www.Hackcanada.com has quite a few, though it's a borderline hacking site. 1234567890 is the universal deactivated cell phone number. I have reset the phone number with an ATT 5120 and a Sony dualband CMD 500. Credit card calls can now be made in digital AND analog on Verizon and ATT. A Pacific Bell/ SBC home phone calling card has worked. I've reset a pile of analog phones with good results too.'

A GSM phone with an unregistered SIM cannot be used with a credit card to make any calls, but it can call 911.

Prepaid
Prepaid used to be only for people that lacked the credit to qualify for regular service. Now it's a good alternative to a regular plan for someone that only wants a phone for light use or emergency use. It is also often cheaper for visitors to the U.S. to buy a prepaid phone than to rent a phone. The minimum monthly charges on prepaid plans are as little as $3.33./month once you buy the phone (compared to minimum monthly charges of $20 on regular plans). You have to remember to add money to your account at the proper interval, even if you don't use the phone, or the service will be deactivated. For all but light users, prepaid is more expensive than a regular plan. Family plans are a cheaper way to provide service to teenagers if they can be trusted to use airtime responsibly.

Most providers clearly are not very interested in the prepaid market. Sprint has a terrible plan, though Virgin Mobile offers a fair plan on Sprint's network. Verizon's plan has very big minimums. I think that some providers figure that if they have really bad prepaid plans then consumers will opt for one of their regular plans rather than go to the competition for a better prepaid plan.

Sometimes you get a better deal from an independent provider that uses a major carrier's network, i.e. CallPlus has some better deals than AT&T, even though CallPlus uses the AT&T network.

On AT&T and CallPlus you can use any deactivated TDMA 800 MHz / TDMA 1900 MHz /AMPS phone. You can find these phones for next to nothing on e-Bay and at garage sales, or free from friends or relatives that have switched carriers from AT&T or Cingular (TDMA). The cheapest ones are the Nokia 51xx series and 61xx series, for which you should not pay more than $20 complete with car charger and AC Charger.

On Cingular and T-Mobile you can use a pre-paid SIM card with any unlocked GSM phone capable of operating at 1900 Mhz. Cingular's prepaid SIM cards work only in California, Nevada, Washington, and Idaho, and can only be purchased in California and Nevada. T-Mobile's SIM cards work across the entire T-Mobile network. AT&T offers a cross between prepaid and post paid on their GSM network; a good plan for someone who needs a lot of peak minutes per month but for whatever reason doesn't want to get, or can't qualify for,a regular post-paid plan.

Virgin Mobile offers prepaid on the Sprint PCS network. Sprint PCS has a plan, but it is not promoted on their web site and it is very expensive.

Nextel does not offer prepaid service.

$3.33 Absolute Lowest Monthly Cost
Pharos International offers prepaid airtime cards on AT&T's TDMA network for as little as $3.33/month for 8.33 minutes/month ($10 for 25 minutes with a 90 day expiration). For an emergency phone you can't get much cheaper than this ($40 per year). If you have an old TDMA phone then you can activate for $15 including shipping and 100 minutes of airtime. You can also buy a new or refurbished phone from Pharos International, but you'll do better on e-Bay or at a flea market. There are a LOT of old TDMA phones around. 

Note that TDMA coverage is deteriorating as Cingular and AT&T shift bandwidth from TDMA over to GSM. So the coverage you'll get with a TDMA phone will not be as good as it was in the past, and will get progressively worse until the TDMA networks are completely shut down.

Checklist for Prepaid 

√

Item

  Minimum yearly fee (the minimum amount you have to add to the account every per year; can be as low as $40 per year)
  Peak rate
 

Off-Peak rate

 

Roaming  capability (including AMPS). Some prepaid plans don't have the same roaming capability as regular plans on the same carrier)

  Mobile to Mobile rate
 

Off-Peak Hours

 

Local Coverage (see ratings)
 

On-Network Roaming Coverage

 

Off-Network Roaming Coverage

 

International Roaming Capability

 

AMPS Analog Capability

 

Phone Selection (usually only a couple of models are offered)

  Customer Service Quality
 

Return Policy and Trial Period

  On-line special rates and rebates

Prepaid and Pre-Billed Services

When selecting a prepaid or pre-billed carrier and plan, pay close attention to not only the per-minute rates, but the coverage (local and national), analog roaming, and the monthly minimums (which range from $3.33 to $20). If you want a phone only for emergencies then choose the plans with the best coverage and the lowest monthly cost, even though the per minute rate is higher. If you're only going to use the phone in-town and need a lot of minutes then the AT&T Go Phone offers the lowest per minute cost. If you're going off on vacation to out of the way places then you'll want a phone with AMPS analog roaming available.

  Digital Technology Spectrum Analog Roaming Local Coverage Nationwide Coverage Minimum Initial Cost1,2 Included Airtime w/New Account Per Minute Rate (Peak) Monthly Minimum Long Distance Included Off Network Roaming per minute
AT&T Free 2 Go
(Local Plan)		 TDMA 800/1900 Yes Excellent Yes, Excellent $100 $10 12-50¢ $6.67 Yes 85¢
AT&T Go Phone
 (w/o mMode)		 GSM 1900 No Fair Yes, Fair4 $70 N/A 9-25¢ $20 Yes Free
Boost Mobile iDen 800 No Fair Yes, Fair $79 $25 (?) 25¢ $6.67 Yes Not Available
CallPlus TDMA 800/1900 Yes Good, but deteriorating Yes, Good, but deteriorating $94 $35 25-40¢ $3.335 Yes Free
Cingular KIC
 (N&W plan)		 GSM 1900 No Fair No $100 $30 35¢ $6.67 Yes Not Available
MetroPCS CDMA 1900 Credit Card Poor No $109 N/A N/A $35 No Not Available
Tracfone TDMA 800/1900 Yes Good, but deteriorating Yes, Good, but deteriorating $60 $0 25-60¢ $7.92 Yes 2X Airtime
T-Mobile GSM 1900 No Good Yes, Fair4 $1003 $30 20-30¢ $20 Yes Not Available
Verizon FreeUp CDMA 800/1900 Yes Excellent Yes, Excellent $130 $50 30¢ $15 Yes Available, price not specified
Virgin CDMA 1900 No Good Yes, Fair $59 $10 10-35¢ $6.67 Yes Not Available

1. With new handset. Not including mail-in rebates, includes instant rebates
2. Used phones are often available, and you can also often use your own, compatible, phone
3. Not on regular web site, go to: http://shop.t-mobile.com 
4. GSM coverage in the United States is limited, and not available in all areas or in all states. Avoid GSM prepaid if the prepaid phone will be needed for emergency use outside urban areas
5. $3.33 is possible with the $10/90 day CallPlus card available only from Pharos International

Prepaid SIM Cards for GSM phones

Prepaid GSM in the U.S. is limited, and not cheap. Don't think that just because you have an unlocked handset that works at 1900 Mhz and 850 Mhz GSM, that GSM prepaid will be cheaper than the other prepaid options. Even considering the cost of a handset, it's a better deal to sign up with a TDMA/AMPS prepaid provider because of the coverage and both the per-minute cost and the minimum monthly cost.

While GSM coverage is increasing in the U.S., a lot of the new coverage is at 850 Mhz. This renders a lot of the tri-band "world phones" fairly useless. There are quad-band world-phones available, but they aren't cheap.

AT&T Wireless
 Cost: Four plans ranging from $20 to $50 per month. Technically called "pre-billed, not pre-paid" since there is a monthly fee, but you can view it as a monthly minimum of $20.
Plusses: Works across the entire AT&T GSM network, which is better than Cingular's or T-Mobile's GSM network (though still not as good as AT&Ts TDMA network). If you need a lot of prepaid minutes then the price is better than regular prepaid.
Minuses: Very expensive if you are looking for a plan primarily for use as an emergency phone.
Comments: The coverage and the expense make this a poor choice, however if you need a lot of prepaid minutes and for some reason you don't want to sign up for a regular post-paid account then the per minute cost is lower than most other prepaid plans.

Online at http://www.attws.com/gophone/, but they do not sell only SIM cards and activation on-line; you also have to buy a phone. Check AT&T Wireless stores for SIM card and activation on your existing 1900 Mhz /850 Mhz capable unlocked GSM phone.

Cingular
 Not Available

T-Mobile
Cost: $50 initial fee includes activation and $30 worth of airtime. Note that this plan is available in T-Mobile's company owned stores. It is not available on T-Mobile's web site and independent on-line retailers charge from $90 to $100 for the same plan. Airtime ranges from 30 cents down to 20 cents per minute depending on the value of the refill card you buy. Refill cards are good for up to 60 days (the cheaper ones are good for from between 15 and 30 days). The minimum possible you could spend per month and retain service is $20.
Plusses: Reasonably priced if you already have a world phone that supports 1900 Mhz, and will use $20 worth of airtime per month.
Minuses:  Poor coverage
Comments: The coverage problems make this a poor choice, but it is not outrageously priced as I had initially thought when I only saw it available from independent resellers at a much higher price that T-Mobile stores charge.

See the web site http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/index.html for more details about prepaid GSM offers.

Using a Deactivated TDMA 800 MHz / TDMA 1900 MHz / Analog phone for Prepaid Service
 AT&T
Phone: See a list of compatible phones at: http://www.ecallplus.com/page8.html (not the AT&T site)
Everything else is the same as AT&T prepaid service.

eCallPlus
Phone: See a list of compatible phones at: http://www.ecallplus.com/page8.html
Everything else is the same as eCallPlus prepaid service.

Bottom Line on Prepaid
AT&T (TDMA) and CallPlus have the best combination of coverage, rates, and low minimums. AT&T has a lower initial cost so if you are just buying a phone to use for a short time then they are a better choice (i.e. travelers to the U.S.), while CallPlus has better rates for the long term light user who will be doing a moderate amount of roaming. Verizon has low rates for off-peak and MTM, and also has excellent coverage (though you'll pay through the nose when roaming), but Verizon has very high minimums. Sprint has about the worst prepaid plan imaginable.

Bottom Line on Rates
Compare rate plans carefully, taking into account MTM minutes, off-peak minutes (and start times), peak minutes, roaming charges, and long distance charges. Look at the possibility of a prepaid plan, and remember to check not just the rates, but the roaming ability as well. Check into discounts offered by your employer, or by professional organizations. If you are already on SprintPCS, and are happy, then lobby for a retention rate. Above all, don't choose a carrier based solely on rates.

Return Policy and Trial Period
 Before you select a carrier, talk to neighbors and co-workers about coverage. Never buy from a carrier that does not have at least a 14 day return policy that refunds all your money except for air time that you have used. Use the phone a lot during these 14 days.

Return Policies by Carrier

  Trial Period Activation Fee Refunded Cancellation Fee After Trial Period
AT&T 30 ? 175
Cingular 15 No 150
Nextel 15 No 200
Sprint 14 No* 150
T-Mobile 14 No 200
Verizon 15 Yes 150

*Officially no, but supervisor may waive fee

Bottom Line on Return Policy and Trial Period
Check return policy before making a commitment. Make sure that if you are not satisfied you can return the phone and cancel service without paying for anything except the airtime you have used.

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