Wireless Phone Providers
By Jason L.
Cellular providers try to differ themselves from each other by trying to give their users more value for their money. The largest 6 cellular providers in the United States market themselves differently, focusing on aspects of their service that they feel you really want.
While knowing which are the largest 6 cellular service providers isn't enough, we've summarized the important details of each of them. So if you want to know what is special about the plan you’re about to sign up for then read on.
Below are the top six cellular phone providers:
AT&T, Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon, Cingular and Sprint.
They are the largest service provider offering a very large coverage area. The advantage of having a large coverage area is because they offer no extra roaming charges on some of their plan. This is a particularly important feature for busy travellers and businesses.
They've recently merged with Cingular and it will be exciting to monitor the improvements they make in the future. They are also the leader in wireless data transfer technology. With services capable of moving data at up to 2MBS with new 3G technologies.
They have the largest GSM network in the U.S. Although they have minor coverage problems, they have been busy fixing them. They have great values for their plans and have an excellent customer service team, unlike other service providers.
The key features in their family plans are the mobile-to-mobile minutes and unlimited weekend and nights. Also they have a large selection of cell phones to choose from for their plans.
Nextel has a unique system where all calls after the first minute are rounded to the second. This can help you save lots of money because you're only paying for what you use, unlike other phone providers who round up to the full minute. On average, you could possibly save 30% more of your talk time minutes using per second billing.
Nextel is also famous for their Direct Connect feature.
This works as a long range walkie-talkie, enable you to connect
to anyone with a Nextel phone instantly. Recently Nextel launched
the new availability of International Direct Connect walkie-talkie
service. This is perfect for travellers as there are connections
between the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Canada. In
the summer look forward to the launch of International Direct Connect
for Mexico too. The only minor drawback is the limited selection
of cell phones they offer with their plans.
Verizon Wireless has one of the best coverage areas and reception strength in the industry. The call quality is usually excellent with strong reception. By having a large nationwide network, Verizon is perfect for travellers and businesses that need a dependable cellular service provider.
Considering all the advantages Verizon has to offer such as good reception, less dropped calls and a large network; their customer service skills needs a dramatic improvement.
Roll over minutes is the prized feature for Cingular. With this option, you can transfer your unused minutes to the next month. You save money because your unused minutes aren't wasted but merely moved to the next month. Since most people have varying minute usage each month this policy could help smooth out these
Cingular has decent call quality and reception but the only drawback is their limited coverage area. Recently they've merged with AT&T, which makes it the largest cell phone carrier! It'll be exciting to see what changes they have in store in the future.
The small coverage area is the major drawback with this cellular phone provider. This makes it very inconvenient for frequent travellers and businesses. However, the call quality in the areas they do cover is excellent. So make sure there is strong reception from Sprint before getting locked into a contract.
They don't have quite a large selection of phones available, so you might have trouble finding the phone you really want. If you don't travel much out of your calling area this shouldn't be much of a problem for you.
Jason is a successful freelance writer for Top-Cellular-Phone-Plans.com Who has written numerous articles on cell plans and cell phone reviews. Copyright 2005 Top-Cellular-Phone-Plans.com