***AT&T has changed their plan offerings since this writing. My plan remains the same, but there is no longer a regional plan offered. Their reputation remains the same despite the changes, but some of my review is no longer applicable. I'm sorry I don't have time to fully update this yet, but I wanted you to be aware. See www.attws.com for the new offerings, they are still a good provider.****

Figuring out which wireless provider and service plan is right for you is a difficult process. I encountered this issue several months ago and learned a lot in the process. It is difficult to find honest advice and side-by-side comparisons between providers. So, I am writing this to hopefully make the process easier on you. I am going to tell you about my experiences, so that you may be well informed when it comes to making your decision.

I got my first cell phone in October of 2001. I was 17 years old and needed a phone primarily for keeping in touch with my parents. The biggest concern at that time was cost, since I wouldn't be using many minutes, just letting mom know my whereabouts. I used a Nokia 5165 under AT&T's prepaid plan until the end of the year, and was very satisfied with the signal and customer service I received. It was also very cheap as far as monthly cost was concerned, but the per minute cost (as with all prepaid's) was very expensive (~$.35/min). About 3 months later I found myself in need of a different type of wireless plan. I began talking to a girl who was long distance from my home phone, so a plan with free long distance and more minutes seemed perfect. My parents were reluctant to spend more money on a monthly plan, but in comparison to even the cheapest phone cards ($.04/min), the cell phone came out a better deal ($.015/min).

I began vigorously comparing service providers: Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, Cingular, and AT&T were all candidates in the Triangle area. They all had seemingly similar offers. They all rave about how many minutes you can get for $30-$40/month. Most of them boast free long distance and roaming included as well, which all sounds great. But you have to get specific and inquisitive to notice the underlying differences between them all. *Especially ask questions on roaming, because many plans have free roaming only when you're on their tower.* That is exactly what I did. I talked with provider representatives, browsed their websites, and gathered opinions from friends and family. Here's what I've discovered:

Sprint: Great service if you are in a "major-metropolitan area". All towers are sprint built and owned on their "all digital, all PCS nationwide network, built from the ground up, so your calls are clear". So whenever you're in a big city or major interstate anywhere in the US, you can call anywhere clearly and without long distance or roaming charges. Also, PCS features like voicemail and caller ID are included. The problem arises when you can't get a Sprint tower. You can get another provider's signal, but you'll be charged $.39-$.69/min for roaming. That can be frustrating and expensive. On an AT&T regional or national plan, you don't have to worry about roaming because it's local no matter who's tower you're using. Sprint does have some of the coolest phones though.

Alltel: (www.alltel.com, not www.alltell.com or alltel.com...the site is so-so, but lacks adequate descriptions) Alltel's family share is a very popular plan which they has been very successful on. Alltel has become the sorta "AOL" of wireless providers...very popular, but not really the best service or value. My dad wanted to add me to his Alltel family share plan for $20, which sounds like a great idea. The signal clarity and availability is about average, and there are variety of plans to suit. However, features like voicemail, caller id, and text messaging are all extras, and quite pricy. To upgrade to the features which are included free with AT&T, you would have to pay an extra $5-$7/month! A lot of cell phones I call give me the message "the Alltel customer you are trying to reach is unavailable at this time, please try your call again later", which can be very frustrating. This is b/c there are a lot of Alltel customers, but virtually none have voicemail since it's extra. Alltel's local plan covers all of NC, SC, and the Norfolk, VA area with no roaming or l/d. This is fine if you rarely travel outside this area, but AT&T offers a much larger home area for a similar rate (MD south to FL, west to TN & AL). The way the share plan works is the account holder buys a certain amount of minutes and shares them amongst all the other users. The airtime packages are slightly more expensive than other providers', but usually cheaper than multiple individual plans. The problem comes when you're sharing minutes and someone exceeds their "portion" of those minutes. Extra airtime is frightfully expensive ($.40-$.60+/min) and I've known people to pay $20 or more extra for exceeded airtime. It is very easy to go over your minutes and not know it since there's no way to check your balance. So then one might buy a ton of minutes with the intent of being "safe" and not going over. Well, this isn't a bad idea with AT&T, but with Alltel you would have to pay to lower your service plan, since they were counting on more money from you when you signed (however increasing your plan is free, of course).
Cingular: My first turn off was that their website gives absolutely no information on their wireless plans. I almost stopped there, but decided to give them a look at one of their dealers. The plans are competitive and some features are included (text messenging is extra). However, Cingular does not have widespread coverage. It has no service at all in most of VA (due to the signal type & military restriction), and is patchy in NC. Cingular is very similar to Sprint as far as coverage goes, however Cingular does not allow you to roam on other provider's towers. Most all cities and interstates are covered, but it doesn't get service on less major rural roads like AT&T and Verizon would. This might not be real important b/c you are less likely to use it there, but it is something to keep in mind. (you would wish you had it if you got stranded in the middle of nowhere)
Verizon: Verizon has competitive plans and excellent coverage (perhaps more in digital than AT&T). If you had a Verizon phone and an AT&T phone side by side, both would get signals where ever you go, however it seems that Verizon would get a digital signal more often in this area. I also know that they have the most customers of any carrier, but this is mostly due to Verizon being a "coming together" of many different providers (such as GTE and Bell South). One disadvantage is that there is no regional plan. I recall ruling them out because the regional plan I wanted was overall not as good of a value as AT&T's was.

***And now finally, the review of my AT&T service***

I have commented on all of the other providers, but I decided to save (in my opinion) the best for last. The reason AT&T is better than the rest comes down to "overall value", getting the best possible experience for your dollar. For one thing...contrary to the other angry reviewer, AT&T has very friendly and responsive customer care. I have dealt with them on numerous occasions and they have been consistently outstanding. I have never once had to hold, and my questions answered have always been answered. They have assisted me in migrating from prepaid to postpaid, adding new promotions to existing service, and answered numerous trivial questions about using my phone or viewing my bill. Their plans are very flexible in that you can move up or down with no fees, and take advantage of new promotions on your old service. To best describe my experience I am going to break down all the different parts of my service:

(for more plans/details see attws.com)
Monthly Plan: $29.99 Regional
-Anytime minutes: 200 (Mon-Fri 7am-8pm) A little skimpy, but I make the majority of my calls at night or on weekends to save $. (The $39 plan offers 400 anytime.) As with any provider, all call times are rounded up. No airtime for busy/no answer calls. Phone talk timers are inaccurate, the only way to track your minutes is a call-by-call log.
-Night/Weekend minutes: 2000min (Mon-Fri 8pm-7am & all Sat & Sun) AT&T's used to start earlier than the others' until around June 2002 (fortunately i was grandfathered in), but your night minutes will be like everyone elses and run 9pm-6am and of course all weekend long.
-Home area: from Maryland south to Florida and west to Tenn., however I can still make calls outside of that area on roam.
-Free long distance: I can call to anywhere in the US from my home area at no extra charge
-Free roaming: I can use any tower in my home area (analog or digital), regardless of the carrier, and pay nothing extra
-Text Messaging: This is an increasingly popular service which I use all the time. You can receive an unlimited # of messages for free. This is nice when you know how to utilize it. I have hotmail email, and it sends me a txt msg whenever I get a new email with the sender, subject, and time of arrival. I can also get sports scores, stocks, news, and weather updates sent to my cell phone...all for free. (for more see mobile.msn.com) It's also sometimes nice to send a short, discreet message to a friend. You can also send email from your phone. But this is just the beginning. New, and exclusive for AT&T wireless, you can log on to AOL Instant Messenger and chat with your same buddies like you would on the computer! The best part is there is no additional cost for it. I already said that all received msgs are free, but to send is still cheap. You can pay $.10/msg or an extra $5/month for 100 included messages. I went for the $5 b/c I send a lot of messages. I don't have to bother dialing in to check email or see who's online b/c I can do it all from the palm of my hand.
- 24/7 free customer assistance: just dial 611.
- You may cancel your service within 30 days and not be held liable for early cancellation. This gives you time to evaluate AT&T's service in your area risk-free.

Included PCS features::
-Voicemail: This is soo convenient, it will take a message if my phone is off, or if I don't answer the call. Then when I turn my phone on it'll say "new voice message" and I can hear what someone wanted to tell me before. It is totally free and customizable. I created my own greeting. Messages can be checked from your phone or a landline phone.
-Caller ID: This is another luxury I've come dependent on. It's nice for censoring calls, seeing who's call you missed, or blocking unwanted callers.
-Call Waiting: No more busy signals...if you're in a conversation and someone calls you, you'll hear a beep and see who's trying to call. You can then switch conversations without hanging up.**
-3-Way Calling: This is nice for getting an extra party on the line, or sparing one or both parties long distance charges (since it's free on AT&T).**
**Double airtime applies when there are simultaneous connections

If features like this aren't important to you, you're not going to pay more for them, they're free for the taking. I haven't mentioned AT&T's local or share plans because they really don't market them or sell many of them. The regional plan is ideal for most people, and the national plan takes care of the frequent travelers, so the local pretty much gets ignored. This is not a bad thing though, because you're getting more for your money. Two $30 regional plans would get you a total of 4400 minutes for $60. Whereas a share plan would usually run you more for less minutes, and certainly less features. I wish I could make more specific examples, but promotions are changing all the time, and the options are too broad to make definite comparisons. The only issue I have faced with AT&T was getting an account under my own name. All applicants, as with any carrier, are subject to a credit check. Having just turned 18 with absolutely no credit, I was told I would have to put down an $800 deposit. Given, this is the highest deposit possible, but there's no way I can afford that. If I did, and I made my payments on time, AT&T DOES report this back to the credit bureau, which is why it is one of the top businesses to establish credit with. However, I wouldn't get my deposit back until my contract was up, and that is 1 to 2 years...provided I don't make changes to the account and renew the contract within that time. One other minor issue: Text messaging is normally instant...less than 5sec to receive notifications. But sometimes after being out of area or on the phone, messages will get delayed or lost. This is very rare though.
I know that not everyone has the same experience, and that many factors determine that. For your information, I have been using a Nokia 3360 phone. I got an incredible deal, never to be seen again. I bought it from Best Buy for $70, got and $80 rebate from AT&T, $50 from Nokia, and $100 from Best Buy...so i was actually paid $160 to take it! Currently the best offer is free after rebate. The phone is great, very small, lightweight, no outer antenna. Great signal quality, accessibility, and features. Plus I can choose from 1000s of ringtones from attws.com/ringtones, or even make my own. (It is usually $.99/ringtone.) It vibrates which is very nice in quiet places, and has more memory than I could ever fill.
*I have since upgraded to the Nokia 6360 which I got from Best Buy for $75 (half off). This is the best phone...it's battery life lives up to it's quoted times (b/t 3-5 hours talk) and standby will go over one week. I downloaded 20 ringtones for a total of 45. The text display is extra large, the battery life is the best I've seen, it has caller groups so you can identify who's calling just by the ringtone, calendar, 5 games (some 2 player), infrared, and the familiar nokia look/interface.

The thing that makes me so confident about AT&T is how all my friends with different providers get jealous. I'll be at the beach on a perfect digital signal, and they'll have a low roaming signal. Plus they pay a lot more for less service.

I could ramble on forever about this stuff, but I think I have given you a good idea of what's out there, and what to look out for. I, contrary to the other epinion writer, have had a superb experience with AT&T, and I hope that her rare experience does not dissuade you. Situations like her's arise with any carrier and should not be regarded as a common occurrence. AT&T offers the best all around value for most people, and it is that reason I would recommend it. If you have any questions or feedback about this article, don't hesitate to email me at jonbmw_@excite.com. Should you decide to try AT&T wireless and you found this article helpful, you may show your appreciation by referring me on your sign up (email me for details). Again, I try to educate you on what I know and share my experiences so that you may be able to make a more informed decision, I hope this was helpful.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 34.99/month