Alltel Mobile Phone Service in Newport News/Norfolk/Virginia Beach

Pros: Good coverage, decent customer service in my experience, and nice plan features.
Cons: They don't seem to have as many phone selections as other providers.

I recently compared alltel to a couple other providers here, using my brother's Verizon phone and an At&t pre-paid Go Phone making sure alltel would be usable for myself. I've also tried to add a little info where I could on the other providers I tried. ...

Pros: At the moment, there is none that I can think of.
Cons: A bad business model that makes it a lot cheaper for me to go elsewhere.

Recently, my work place implemented Microsoft Exchange servers for calendaring and email. My Palm Treo from Alltel is having difficulty syncing with the new Exchange server (but that is another story). It seems that everyone with a Blackberry is doing just fine.

So I contacted Alltel to see if could upgrade my phone/plan and plan to a Blackberry. They said yes, but because I was not within 90 days of the my contract's expiration date that I would have to pay full retail price (about $500) for the new Blackberry.

So I said "Let me get this straight... It would be more expensive for me to upgrade to a Blackberry and stay with Alltel than it would be for me to terminate my contract, pay the $200 and then get a new line of service from another carrier?". Alltel's answer (and I have this in writing) was "Yes, but we hope you stay with Alltel".

Pros: Best Coverage, Best Prices, My Circle Option is Awesome, I'm never going back to Verizon.
Cons: Retail stores are a little harder to locate in the region but there are several.

After using Verizon because everybody else had it, I switched to Alltel about a month ago mainly because of the MyCircle promotion. The coverage is hands down the best in all of Hampton Roads. Inside elevators and the bottom floor of buildings in Norfolk I actually get coverage in places where I did not with Verizon and others do not with Sprint. I've offered my phone to 3 friends this week alone. I also actually get great coverage in Williamsburg where other providers tend to be spotty. Do yourself a favor if you're looking for a wireless provider and give up on the more expensive Verizon or Sprint plans in the area. You get more minutes for the price with Alltel and the coverage is much better. Not as many people use Alltel so the free M2M won't be as good of a deal, but the MyCircle deal more than makes up for it because I can include landlines. You can also change plans for more or less minutes, add or drop features, or add lines without extending your contract. I definitely recommend Alltel to anybody looking for wireless coverage or looking to switch providers in Hampton Roads.