The thing about Verizon is that they just work, everywhere. I don't have coverage problems, I don't have data problems, I don't lose calls, I never get "system busy" messages ... stuff just works. With my discount I pay $47 / mo for 450 minutes, unlimited n/w, unlimited messaging, and unlimited web -- not a bad deal.

Service for me (about a year) has been fine, but I was supremely irritated at how they hobbled my Razr.

Now I have a Blackberry, and it is less crippled (but not perfect).

Wow, if only either of those ideas were true.

/10 years of VZW, 1 year of T-moble - the only difference is $35/mo

jaymzz: /10 years of VZW, 1 year of T-moble - the only difference is $35/mo

I wish I could use Tmo here, especially with their new "project Dark" rates. But they just cut out too much.

floor9: I wish I could use Tmo here, especially with their new "project Dark" rates. But they just cut out too much.

Coverage isn't as good, but I checked along the 5 hour drive home to my parents VZW had coverage for 10 minutes longer than Tmo did. And it's an extra 1/2 mile drive to get coverage from their house compared to VZW. Otherwise performance seems identical to me in terms of drop outs, missed calls, etc.

Did I mention $35/mo cheaper? I'll put up with a lot of mediocrity to save $35/mo.

I like how AT&T will drop my calls even when I have full signal. Then, they'll try and tell me I'm not eligible for a new phone even though my contract states that I get a new phone every two years and it's been over three years.

/Fark AT&T
//I got my free phone, assholes.

Meh, gotta back up ATT on this one. Went road tripping with my bud the other wee, same model phones (htc fuze/raphel/touchpro,whatever). I consistently had better 3g coverage, signal strength, and oh yeah, simultaneous data/voice.

/evdo what?

I had Verizon for 7 years, then moved to Europe for a year. When I got back to the states, I wanted to continue to use my European phones, so I went with AT&T.

A couple months ago, the pricks wanted me to pay $400 to get an iPhone AND re-up my 2 year contract (instead of $200).

I can't even use my mobile in my apartment, in the middle of LA.

Needless to say, when my contract runs out next summer, I'm back on Verizon.

floor9: The thing about Verizon is that they just work, everywhere. I don't have coverage problems, I don't have data problems, I don't lose calls, I never get "system busy" messages ... stuff just works. With my discount I pay $47 / mo for 450 minutes, unlimited n/w, unlimited messaging, and unlimited web -- not a bad deal.

My only beef is CDMA and them locking down their phones so only VZW crap runs on it. Open your damn phones VZW! Ppl will flock to you!

I wish there was more options than tmobile and At&T for GSM service here. I travel a lot and like to be able to just swap out sim cards when I'm in a different country

I am very happy with Verizon's service, but for the love of god, can you please carry a decent farking phone??? Even though it looks a little boxy to me I hope the Droid is decent.

I had Verizon in Baltimore, and the customer service was so bad I vowed to never, ever go back to them. Now my ATT coverage is so bad in Alabama that I may just have to.

/cellular companies uniformly suck, just in different ways

JoeyJoJo: I had Verizon for 7 years, then moved to Europe for a year. When I got back to the states, I wanted to continue to use my European phones, so I went with AT&T.

A couple months ago, the pricks wanted me to pay $400 to get an iPhone AND re-up my 2 year contract (instead of $200).

I can't even use my mobile in my apartment, in the middle of LA.

Needless to say, when my contract runs out next summer, I'm back on Verizon.

I'm confused. ATT made you buy an iPhone? Did you sign a 2 year agreement when you were using your phone from Europe? Why not just go month to month.

I really want the Droid, but Verizon burnt me bad on beeper service like 10 years ago.

How's the Moto Cliq?

The worst thing about my iPhone is that it's a shiatty phone, because of shiatty AT&T coverage.

Loved Verizon but when I moved to the beach, there was zero service. I had to cancel my contract and switch to AT&T (only provider with service there) but instead of raking me over the coals, Verizon asked where I lived and why I wanted to switch. They did charge me the early cancellation fee but sent a reimbursement check for the full amount without me having to complain.

I've experienced the worst customer service with Verizon on several different product lines.

Really, the worst I've ever experienced.

PerilousApricot: I wish there was more options than tmobile and At&T for GSM service here. I travel a lot and like to be able to just swap out sim cards when I'm in a different country

There's a shiatload of phones at VZW that are quadband GSM phones in addition to being CDMA phones.

A little off the subject-

If you want a so-called "smart phone", there are only 2 rational choices at the momemnt: An iPhone, or a Windows Mobile phone.

The Palm Pre and the Blackberry phones and the Android phones simply don't have the apps yet.

Plus, I agree that Verizon is the best carrier if you actually care about coverage (and you should). Verizon phones work everywhere. None of the other carriers can say that.

alywa: I had Verizon in Baltimore, and the customer service was so bad I vowed to never, ever go back to them. Now my ATT coverage is so bad in Alabama that I may just have to.

VZW uses outsourced call centers (albeit in the US) that are in turn staffed with people provided by temp agencies.

The whole part about Verizon buying Alltel had nothing to do with any of that?

I guess subby has never had to actually deal with Verizon customer service. I do on a daily basis, and I'll take AT&T's customer service over Verizon any day of the week. They're even worse than AT&T about crippling their phones too. And on top of that... no sim cards in their phones - so I can't just buy a new phone on ebay and pop my sim card in like I can on AT&T.

They do have good coverage here in DC though. But I don't see much difference around here in coverage from AT&T, so that's not really a mark in their favor either.

I'm planning on getting the Moto Droid when it comes out. My current phone is almost dead.

I had AT&T and before nation wide coverage, they essentially stole $400 from me in calling fees from NYC to DC. I promptly switched carriers to T-mobile. Their customer service wasn't bad, and their phone/data rates were pretty good, and far cheaper than any other carrier I've tried. However, it was such a hassle to find coverage areas where my calls wouldn't be dropped. The worst thing was that I couldn't get coverage within my own apartment. Eventually, I switched to Verizon. I've been with them for about 4 yrs now, and the service has been great, even if I am paying a lot more. Of course, that has to do more with the fact that I've moved away from basic cell phones and now use only smart phones, so the data plan kills me. Still, given the coverage area, I'm fine paying it so long as my service keeps working.

Scary thing is that I had better coverage in Indonesia then I do in Washington State. The phone had no contract, unlocked, and was about $25.00 (rp26,000); the SIM card was $5.00 (about rp55,000) good for three to six months. There were few if any dead spots over the island. Even had coverage on a volcano and in the jungle.

So why can a "third-world" country get not only better coverage but cheaper service?

I've been with every major carrier there is and they all pretty much suck. Best thing you can do is find one that has a phone you like so that it doesn't hurt as much when you're grabbing your ankles.

/I have a Pre
//Had an iPhone 3G
///Wasn't going to pay $400 and sign a 2 year contract to get a 3Gs

realmolo: A little off the subject-

If you want a so-called "smart phone" Toy, there are only 2 rational choices at the momemnt: An iPhone, or a Windows Mobile phone.

The Palm Pre and the Blackberry phones and the Android phones simply don't have the apps yet.

Plus, I agree that Verizon is the best carrier if you actually care about coverage (and you should). Verizon phones work everywhere. None of the other carriers can say that.

FTFY

I've had both Verizon and T-Mobile phones and Verizon trumps on coverage in a major way. I could get signal with VZW at my house, but not so T-Mobile. We may eventually switch just to bail on the landline.

Traveling this past weekend I couldn't get T-Mobile coverage near Bloomington, IN nor in the Denver Airport, though in Denver it came back later. Go figure.

TFH sums up my assessment of Verizon perfectly.

I pay only twenty bucks a month for up to 400 minutes* (though most months I never come close to even using that much) .. In over eight years of use, I've never been unable to get a signal or had a call dropped.

/*voice only, though; no text or data
//but probably wouldn't use those even if I had 'em

realmolo: The Palm Pre and the Blackberry phones and the Android phones simply don't have the apps yet.

I have a storm, and although I do wish I had a few more apps, most of the one's I need and use on a regular basis are available. Now that the Storm got the upgrade to OS 5.0, it's even a much better phone than it was a week ago. That said, once my new every two kicks in, I will probably switch to an Android based HTC or the Motorola Droid, though I might wait a bit for the better Android based phones come down the pipeline in 2010.

MugzyBrown: I've experienced the worst customer service with Verizon on several different product lines.

Really, the worst I've ever experienced.

Then you have never been a Sprint customer. 3+ years of complete and utter hell every single month. Been with verizon for 2.5 years and have not had a single complaint.

jaymzz: Wow, if only either of those ideas were true.

/10 years of VZW, 1 year of T-moble - the only difference is $35/mo

This. 2 years of Cingular, 3 of Verizon, just went on to T-Mobile. I was in the middle of Vegas and my cell phone had no coverage. What they do is when you're outside your normal service area, they gimp your phone by putting extra software on it. Geniuses gimped it to the point where the battery would last 45 minutes and had no signal at all; this is on the strip mind you. I also appreciate that T-Mobile was one of the few companies that didn't push for the FISA bailout.

/Using my faves for Google Voice #'s
//Unlimited data and unlimited calling
///No contract, someone gave me a BBerry
////Verizon & AT&T can diaf

realmolo: If you want a so-called "smart phone", there are only 2 rational choices at the momemnt: An iPhone, or a Windows Mobile phone.

The Palm Pre and the Blackberry phones and the Android phones simply don't have the apps yet.

Nothing works as well as Blackberry with corporate email. That and "making a phone call reliably" are the two apps I care about.

realmolo: A little off the subject-

If you want a so-called "smart phone", there are only 2 rational choices at the momemnt: An iPhone, or a Windows Mobile phone.

The Palm Pre and the Blackberry phones and the Android phones simply don't have the apps yet.

Plus, I agree that Verizon is the best carrier if you actually care about coverage (and you should). Verizon phones work everywhere. None of the other carriers can say that.

Had all of the phones you mentioned except for the iPhone, and every big name carrier except for TMobile. Sprint and VZW have a free roaming deal off of eachother's network so Sprint has the exact same coverage that Verizon has. The only catch is that if there is a hint of Sprint's signal the phone will constantly try to use that even if Roaming is stronger. But I have a Pre and it was an easy hack to fix that.

Also, WinMo phones suck as they don't have a native java platform so you either have to pay for or hack the phone to get Opera Mini and Gmail to run native on the phone.

Does their increase in customers have anything to do with buying Alltel perhaps?

Has Alltel - like verizon as well. No biggie.

realmolo:
If you want a so-called "smart phone", there are only 2 rational choices at the momemnt: An iPhone, or a Windows Mobile phone.


Android already has over 10K apps.
And Windows Mobile ? Are you completely HIGH ?

//Android G1 on ATT & luvin it

Carth:
I'm confused. ATT made you buy an iPhone? Did you sign a 2 year agreement when you were using your phone from Europe? Why not just go month to month.

Orange Mobile >> SonyEricsson >> GSM >> AT&T

I wanted to upgrade my European SonyEricsson to an iPhone partway through my contract. Instead of $200 and re-upping my contract for 2 years, they wanted $400 PLUS two more years. To add to that the AT&T service is shiatty if you haven't already heard.

Why would I think getting a 2 year contract would be a bad thing especially when I got a Palm Centro on top of it. (shiatty phone too.)

Did I mention that Ill be going back to Verizon when my contract is up?

MrBentor: So why can a "third-world" country get not only better coverage but cheaper service?

I am sure the cell phone co's in the US not agreeing to a wireless standard and wanting a lion's share of the profits had something to do with it.

nodubs: The whole part about Verizon buying Alltel had nothing to do with any of that?

The article made some passing references to the acquisition of Alltel.

As an Alltel customer for the past 4 years, all I can say is they better not screw it up. My first phone was with Cingular which dropped just about every call I ever tried to make. There is no way I'm putting up with that crap again.

Verizon coverage in rural Georgia = Amazing
Verizon coverage in rural Vermont = Ehh

First time I've had a problem with service, ever. Sad times.

jmaster306: As an Alltel customer for the past 4 years, all I can say is they better not screw it up.

Things that VZW does different than Alltel:
if you pay late, you will be charged a late fee
if you used it, you'll pay for it. no credits will be given for incurred usage just because you want them.
you have about 12 days after the due date to pay before your service will be cut off
you can see a full detailed bill providing all call and data details online for free

realmolo: If you want a so-called "smart phone", there are only 2 rational choices at the momemnt: An iPhone, or a Windows Mobile phone.

The Palm Pre and the Blackberry phones and the Android phones simply don't have the apps yet.

As was mentioned, 10k+ apps for Android. Not bad for the first year. Plus this looks pretty damn sweet. Freaked the fark out of the investors of Garmin and TomTom yesterday too.

realmolo: Plus, I agree that Verizon is the best carrier if you actually care about coverage (and you should). Verizon phones work everywhere. None of the other carriers can say that.

No.

I canceled my Verizon contract because I got no signal in any of the three buildings I work in or at home. And I'm 1/2 mile from downtown Minneapolis for Jebus' sake. I switched to T-Mobile and now I get full coverage everywhere (even up in NoDak where they technically don't have coverage), got a nicer phone, and save $5/mo. Plus, they don't charge me $200 randomly and graciously offer to "reduce" the BS charge by half.

VZ will be one of the first companies on the planet to roll out the 4G LTE network. Combine that with their coverage, and they're going to slaughter the competition. It can't hurt to own VZ stock.

The Angry Hand of God: I am very happy with Verizon's service, but for the love of god, can you please carry a decent farking phone??? Even though it looks a little boxy to me I hope the Droid is decent.

I've got the Blackberry Storm, and it used to suck, but they just upgraded the firmware to version 5.0 this past week - it rocks now. No memory problems anymore, the interface is very iPhone-like now...I'm pleased with the phone, and the service has always been reliable.

Now if only I could get my bill under $250/mo...

Occam's Nailfile: Now if only I could get my bill under $250/mo...

You cell bill is my car payment. Goddamn, kid.

Verizon for two years, Cingular/AT&T for six.

I never had coverage or service problems with Verizon, but I had four major billing screw-ups (that's a staggeringly high rate of failure) and customer service was a joke, both on the phone and in-store.

Cingular/AT&T has pretty good call center support and their in-store associates are spectacularly helpful.

That said, Verizon's coverage is considerably better in rural Ohio and Pennsylvania.

/BlackBerry Bold, mostly happy with it

floor9: The thing about Verizon is that they just work, everywhere. I don't have coverage problems, I don't have data problems, I don't lose calls, I never get "system busy" messages ... stuff just works. With my discount I pay $47 / mo for 450 minutes, unlimited n/w, unlimited messaging, and unlimited web -- not a bad deal.

I bet you wouldn't get coverage where I live. Nobody does. It's very weird.

I have friends with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Nextel, etc., and though I live 1/4 mile from the nearest cell tower, nobody can use a cell phone in my house. It's really great, especially because I give everyone my house number so they can hear me when they call and nobody will farking call it. They only call my cell phone and then get pissy when they can't hear me.

My wife and I were with Verizon for a couple years and we liked their service just not their prices. We switched to their pre-paid plans and got the best of both worlds (their coverage and a $100 per year price tag). As long as you don't use your phone like an addict its worth checking out.

jaymzz: floor9: I wish I could use Tmo here, especially with their new "project Dark" rates. But they just cut out too much.

Coverage isn't as good, but I checked along the 5 hour drive home to my parents VZW had coverage for 10 minutes longer than Tmo did. And it's an extra 1/2 mile drive to get coverage from their house compared to VZW. Otherwise performance seems identical to me in terms of drop outs, missed calls, etc.

Did I mention $35/mo cheaper? I'll put up with a lot of mediocrity to save $35/mo.

I tried them before I got verizon. Their broadband is so slow it is basically useless.