Since 2000, I have been a Verizon Wireless subscriber. In 2000, I first purchased service from Sprint, and before discussing my experiences with Verizon, would like to share some background related to why I switched to Verizon.

In 2000 Sprint had the most minutes at the lowest cost. I liked the Sprint Motorola phone, but the coverage was very poor. I could not send or receive calls on the first or second floor, and had limited coverage on our rooftop deck. Also as I drove between San Diego and Los Angeles, there were many areas where there was no coverage, or the coverage was on someone else's network adding additional fees to my bill. One day we had a crisis at our house, and I needed to use the Sprint phone. There was no coverage, and after that I realized that I needed a phone that had coverage at my house, and that would keep me connected as I traveled in San Diego or between San Diego and LA.

After speaking with several people that used their cellular phones for their business, those with Verizon told me that it had great coverage, and they never had any trouble connecting in San Diego. At that time Verizon had the lowest minutes for the highest monthly rate. Verizon required a one year contract, and if you wished to switch plans, it required a one-year extension from that date. To cancel within the year requires a $175 fee.

We currently have the Verizon National Family plan with two phones and our monthly bill with taxes is approximately $87. I believe that we have 800 minutes per month. Our current contract expires in June 2004.

My wife regularly travels to Dallas for business, and when she was first traveling, we went over our monthly allocation of 500 minutes and one month our bill was $180.

For a few months we went over our monthly minute allocation, mostly on cell to cell calls, and I seriously considered paying the cancellation fee because of the additional charges by minute overages. I was very frustrated with the fees for going over the monthly minute allocation. Verizon will tell you how many minutes you have used upto that minute, but it is only the minutes you have used on that phone. Since we have the family plan, I have to get both phones and run the tests to determine how many minutes have been used.

Overall, I am very happy with the coverage and am very happy that I rarely drop a call. The monthly rate is fair, but if you go over your monthly minute allocation, it is very expensive, and you must agree to a one year contract. Any changes in your plan, such as moving from 500 to 800 minutes requires a one year contract extension.

We also regularly travel to Europe and South America. Verizon does not use or offer the GSM phones that are compatible with service in Europe and South America. For our friends with GSM phones, they buy a chip and minutes from the local country that we are visiting, and have a local telephone number. Verizon does offer a service to provide you with a telephone, but I believe the fee is $1.99 per minute. Our friends with GSM phones pay about $.20 per minute while traveling in Europe.

Great coverage in southern California and reasonably priced, as long as you do not exceed your monthly allocation of minutes.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 87