I sell for 3 of the 4 wireless companies in town (for an independent dealer)

What are you looking for?
Minutes?
Price?
Do you plan on traveling into outside of the city limits?

Where do you work? (many companies offer discounts based your employement)

Do you want texting? Internet? Music?

I'll find the best plans for each company for you.

Bully

starfire,
you might give working assets a try...

both Tamara and I use them for wireless and long distance...and a portion of what we pay (plus any round up money if we choose to round our bills up to the nearest dollar) goes directly to nonprofits and enviro causes such as Sierra Club, etc...

As someone traumatised by a long contract, I am grooving on the pay as you go relatively cheap Virgin Mobile Oyster phone.

Did everyone see the story linking the collapse of honey bee colonies to cell phone towers etc? Fun stuff.

Cell phone "radiation" is being mentioned as just one possible explanation. Though, it's apparently a strong candidate. Another is a new type of herbicide that's a derivative of tobacco. Also, bee colonies do have occasional natural collapses, as well. So let's not get too freaked out just yet.

Respectfully, we should be freaked out because scientists do not have a handle on this problem.

The alarmist in me is quick to point to GMO's, however the evidence is not there.

Pesticide is a slightly more prosaic explanation.

But the subtle biological effects of cell phone radiation and low level em is routinely poo-pooed by the scientific authorities. The potential liability apparently affects their findings.

Regardless, the money quote is from Al Einstein who said if we lost the bees, humanity would last four years.

But I sure love my cell phone regardless of whether its weakening my blood-brain barrier.

I got one last year for the first time ever. I hardly ever use it, so I got one of the Tracfones from shopko with the pay as you go minutes.

So, I've had one for a year, and spent a grand total of $130 or so for the phone and all the minutes and service, and I've still got 150 or so minutes. But then again, I rarely use it. And I can't load obnoxious ringtones. Or take pictures. or listen to mp3s. Or flip it open like a Star Trek communicator. But I have money left over for beer. And Burritos.

I'll have one fat capitalist cell phone with a side of guac, but please hold the brain tumors, cell death, and environmental stressors. To go.

To much of anything is a bad thing. Drink enough water you die, breathe fast enough you pass out, I suspect holding an electronic device against your head for hours on end will cause damage, moderation in all things, except meth and killing

I work for a local cell phone provider. That being said, a few key questions are how many minutes do you need, do you plan to use text messages, send pictures, access the web, listen to music, etc. and are you going to need a nationwide calling plan in the forseeable future?

To start with, make sure you chose a carrier that will allow you to change your plan without renewing your contract or losing any "promotional offers" such as free mobile-to-mobile, night and weekend minutes, etc. T-mobile and Cingular are out of the question because they don't have a market here which narrows the list down to Verizon/Amp'd Mobile, Cellular One, Sprint/Nextel/Helio/Disney and Unicel (excluding pre-paid options).

Unicel uses Cellular One's towers so their local coverage is identical, but it can only be used around Duluth. I mostly stay in Duluth myself but when I do travel, I use the cell phone more than ever so it's probably a good idea to have a carrier that at least gives you the option of nationwide coverage.

I've had a Verizon phone for 3 years and used it throughout MN, WI, SD and taken it with me on trips to several other states and their coverage is excellent. The two phones I've had with them worked great and I've only called their customer service twice but they were friendly enough. I have their Nationwide 450 minute plan for $39.99 a month which allows unlimited night and weekend minutes after 9 pm, free mobile-to-mobile to their customers and no roaming or long distance charges in the US which works great for me. Watch out for overages though, with this plan overages are $0.40 per minute. They really don't have any local plans. Also, Amp'd Mobile resells Verizon service with more minutes at a lower rate, but no night and weekend minutes.

Sprint/Nextel has decent coverage in the midwest, but in rural areas, their coverage does not compare to Verizon or Cellular One and in many parts of the country it is non-existent. They have a Nationwide 450 minute plan for $39.99 as well which is the exact same plan Verizon offers except the nights and weekends start at 7 pm and overages are only $5 for every 50 minutes you go over ($0.10 per min) which is rounded up to the nearest increment of 50 minutes. Sprint also has a 200 minute plan for $29.99 a month but it includes no night and weekend minutes and I think with that plan overages are $0.45 per minute. Also, I'm a bit confused as to what Sprint/Nextel considers roaming beacuse their nationwide plans show that there are roaming charges of $0.69 per minute for using the phone in an area where neither they nor their roaming partners have coverage. Working Assets sells Sprint/Nextel service at the same rates so if you're going that route, you might as well go through them. Alternatively, Helio and Disney Mobile both resell Sprint/Nextel service. Helio has some neat phones, and an exclusive agreement with Myspace, so if you're a text message addict or social butterfly talk to them. Disney Mobile is kind of a joke but they have one unique feature, which is that you can limit the amount of minutes and text messages used, which is of course designed to control irresponsible kids but can also be used to control our irresponsible selves.

As far as local coverage goes, Cellular One is the best. If you need a nationwide plan, you can get 500 minutes for $40 a month or 1600 minutes for $50 a month, both come with unlimited nights and weekends after 9 pm, free mobile-to-mobile to their customers and no roaming or long distance charges in the US. They also have a statewide plan with 400 daytime mins and unlimited nights and weekends after 9 pm for $35 or a statewide unlimited minutes plan for $50. With either of those plans roaming outside the state is $0.35 a minute but the home calling area does include the northwest tip of Wisconsin so you won't be roaming in Superior south to around Lake Nebagemon. Also, you can always switch to a nationwide plan for a while then switch back to the statewide plan without any penalty. The same is true at Verizon but sometimes they make fetures such as free mobile-to-mobile contingent on sticking with the same rate plan thus you may lose features if changing your plan and I'm really not sure about Sprint/Nextel. As far as customer service goes, I would say Cellular One leaves something to be desired but they do have the best local coverage at the cheapest rates.

Also, don't forget early termination fees in the event you need to cancel a contract. Verizon and Sprint/Nextel charge a flat fee (Verizon was $175 last time I checked and Sprint/Nextel is $200) to cancel before the contract is up. Cellular One charges $20 multiplied by the number of months remaining on the contract which of course can be much higher or lower than other carriers depending when you cancel. All carriers offer a minumum of a 14 day trial period. During those 14 days, spend some extra money on gas and make sure to drive a bunch of places even if you don't go there particularly often to see if the phone works.

If you plan to start more than one line of service, ignore the rate plans I've suggested and email me or ask someone else for advice in terms of rate plans for multiple lines.

Lastly, I realize I've completely ignored pre-paid options. Since you mentioned possibly getting unlimited minutes I presume you plan to use enough minutes to make the pre-paid option cost prohibitive, but if you're interested, basically the same comments for each of the carriers still apply but obviously the plans are different. I will mention that Tracphone uses Cellular One towers so their coverage is identical. Generally speaking I've found their customer service to be plesant but entirley useless when it comes to service issues. I know absolutely nothing about the pre-paid options provided by Unicel, Sprint/Nextel or Verizon. From what I understand Cellular One has some fairly cheap rates for pre-paid service but the different options are a bit complex depending on how many minutes you buy at a time and whether you want to have recurring payments drafted from a checking account or credit card.

If you have any questions about billing, technical info or rate plans email me at andybobolson at hotmail dot com.

I have been with Unicel since the beginning of service in Duluth.
Although there is a dead spot where my office is located on the shore, I have been very satisfied with the overall coverage.
I also have a plan with Cell One (hate) for my son and a trac phone for my daughter.
Unicel texting is only a $1 (beat that competitors!).
My Unicel monthly bill has not changed/increased for a number of years as I rarely roam.
I remember when I signed up the plan included 3000 minutes. Wow I thought, I will never use that much. A few years ago they changed to unlimited service for the same price.
Some cell phone companies will "borrow" you a phone for a day or two if you ask.

If you don't plan on using your phone a lot, but just like to have one for emergencies/quick conversations, I'd suggest Virgin.
The phones can be found for about $20 (more if you get l33t features), and you can get upkeep costs down to $15/90 days (and sometimes they have specials beyond that).
I've had mine for about two years, and I estimate I pay about $80/year.

Starfire, just get whatever's the most reasonable monthly rate. Your 2-year contract will be up then in April 2009—just in time for you to get an iPhone (rev. C).

Cellular One: worst customer service ever.

Cell One does have bad customer support, but I like the coverage area, and that there isn't roaming charges. I travel a moderate amount and it makes a difference.

We use Verizon, it has worked well for us. Coverage and reliability has been very good. Several long distance contacts use Verizon, so that was another deciding factor. The nickel and dime dance at startup was tiring, but customer service was fine afterward. Good luck

My wife and I use cell one and have never had a problem with them of any kind. I think you will hear bad storys about all cell phone provides.

I would recommend cell one. As far pre pay phones I would stay away from those unless you are only going to use rarly. IF you are going to use your cell a lot get a one or two year plan from a provider.

My wife and I use cell one and have never had a problem with them of any kind. I think you will hear bad storys about all cell phone provides.

I would recommend cell one. As far pre pay phones I would stay away from those unless you are only going to use rarly. IF you are going to use your cell a lot get a one or two year plan from a provider.