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South Dakota Cellular Reviews
Mountain Wireless presents an opinionated review of wireless
and cellular phone services in South Dakota.
This is information gained from personal
experience, user interviews, press releases,
advertising material, newsgroups and wireless
web sites.For Ratings of these carriers, Click Here.
ALLTEL
Virtually all of the Alltel network in this
state is to be purchased by AT&T. Parts of the Alltel network in other areas
will be sold to AT&T, Verizon, and ATN, the parent company of Commnet Wireless, after government approval. There will be a transition period through
2010 during which Alltel customers will be
notified of the changes to their account
and service. Those Alltel customers who will
transfer to Verizon Wireless are already being served by Verizon. For
all others, current plans will be maintained,
you can continue to use your Alltel phone
as usual, and the changeover will be relatively
painless. Eventually you will be offered
a new AT&T phone and, most likely, be
assigned a new AT&T plan. With a new phone you will be using the AT&T
GSM network, some of which will be using
different cell sites, which may affect coverage. While there is some uncertainty in a transition
like this, previous changes to AT&T have
gone smoothly. There is no harm in signing up as a new Alltel
customer today, the changeover process will
continue to at least the end of 2010 and
your service may not change until 2011. Most
of your coverage will be similar to Alltel's
and you will eventually be able to use AT&T's
entire network and features, including the
iPhone. For now, you can use your Alltel
phone across most of the country and get
excellent coverage and reliable data service.
Alltel phones currently prefer the Verizon
network when roaming. Alltel still offers
some attractive plans that will be available
at least through the transition. Expect some
of this to change under AT&T. Currently,
new Alltel customers are required to only
sign a 1-year contract.
Pros: Good coverage, very good prices, a
variety of plans, good customer service,
good broadband services including while roaming.
Cons: The uncertainty of the transition to
AT&T is a little unsettling, but for
most customers, service will improve.
Get Web-Only Discounts on Alltel Phones
COMMNET WIRELESS
Commnet has been building cell sites in locations
that have been overlooked by other carriers.
You can't sign up for service with them...yet.
Their parent company, Atlantic Tele-Network recently agreed to purchase the divested Alltel assets from Verizon Wireless, nearly doubling the
size of their network. Their current business
relies on roaming by other carriers' customers.
Some carriers include Commnet in their Roaming
Lists, others allow roaming if their phones
access Commnet's sites, and some forbid roaming
on them. So if the closest, or only, cell
site near you is owned by Commnet, you need
to find out if you can sign up with a carrier
that allows roaming on that Commnet site.
They are also known by other names, and their
sites offer a different combination of CDMA
and GSM technology. Commnet has been searching
out areas with little or no coverage and
is credited for adding new coverage there.
They say, "we can enhance the subscriber
experience by providing coverage in unexpected
areas, at a cost well below what would be
possible for a single retail carrier."
In most cases, you'll have no idea you're
using a Commnet site, but that may change
soon.
Commnet Coverage Maps
NEXTEL
Nextel is a of part Sprint and in some offers,
Sprint hides Nextel's features. The combo
has allowed the two networks to start sharing
cell sites to improve coverage. Nextel's
spectrum is made up from a bunch of 2-way
radio channels, and they suffer from marginal
audio in some markets. Their coverage is
more robust in certain areas than others.
They cover urban areas and some interstates,
but there is little roaming elsewhere in
the state. They have an efficient '2-way'
radio feature which is handy for a business
or a family. Some of their plans aren't very
competitive, but they do offer free incoming
calls. They use 850 MHz so they have a strong
signal in most areas. Sprint has announced
they are not improving or expanding the Nextel
network. Boost Mobile uses the Nextel network
and it a good option for Unlimited Voice and Text. Rumors come up from time
to time that Sprint wants to sell off the
Nextel network, which may or may not include
Nextel customers. Pros: The Direct Connect is a handy 'walkie-talkie'
service, robust coverage within their service
area. Cons: Some markets have poor audio,
they also have coverage limits and very limited
roaming, most of their phones are big and
lack variety, Nextel does not have fast broadband
features, neither the network nor the coverage
are being upgraded. Sprint has not treated
Nextel customers as well as those using the
Sprint network.
Get Online Discounts on Nextel Phones
SPRINT WIRELESS
Sprint has a national, feature-rich digital
network. Their coverage is a little "fragile",
but where it's good, it's very good. You
can roam over more territory than any other
single carrier. Sprint has a good selection
of phones. Their plans include roaming over
most of the country, and work about as well
as any National plan. They offer an inexpensive
"basic" plan for only $30 per month.
They also offer a few Unlimited plans with
lots of features included. Sprint has added
service by taking over parts of some carriers'
networks, and "sharing" spectrum
with others. Sprint merged with Nextel which has created some beneficial network
configurations, including sharing of cell
sites. Sprint phones normally prefer the
network which, where available, gives Sprint
customers the best data throughput. Many
Sprint phones have the ability to force the
phone to "Roam Only", helping you
use the strongest network, however there
is a limit to how much roaming you can do,
generally 50%. Pros: Sprint gives you good value for your
money, but is not necessarily the cheapest.
Sprint covers every urban area in the US,
maintains local service stores, good roaming
capabilities, their digital and data network
work very well, good selection of phones.
Sprint has excellent roaming agreements,
while some other carriers are restricting
theirs. Cons: You might find a weak area
right where you want coverage, some of their
plans are not very competitive, customer service is a notch below average.
Click here for more Sprint Pros & Cons Get Online Discounts on Sprint Phones
UNICEL
Unicel in this area has been sold to Verizon Wireless.
VERIZON WIRELESS
Verizon is the largest cellular carrier in
the US. They have taken over a large portion
of the Alltel network and are now dominant in rural America.
Cellular service in a few of Alltel's local markets are being sold to other companies, but no
coverage will be lost. Their claim to fame
is superior coverage, especially in the west.
They use PCS frequencies only in a few areas,
but they have constructed those networks
well. In the few places where they don't have their
own coverage, they have roaming agreements
with other carriers, normally one with superior
coverage. Therefore, their "National"
plans, which include almost all of the country,
are about as close to "wall-to-wall"
as you can get. Their reasonably-priced plans
have no roaming or long distance charges,
and they also throw in Unlimited Night and
Weekend minutes as well as Unlimited calls
among Verizon Wireless users both on and
off their own network (there are a few exceptions).
They offer fairly competitive prices, and
often have promotions. They also offer plans
that include Unlimited Voice and other features
at various fixed price levels. Data service
is excellent with various price plans. Verizon
forces their phone manufacturers to offer
a "standardized" user interface,
limiting menu and font variations. This could
mean the screen appearance may not be to
your liking or the fonts may be too small.
Smart and data-type phones require a per-Mb
plan. They have the largest area of 3G coverage in the US.
Pros: Verizon has reasonably-priced plans,
"Unlimited" calling plans available,
extensive coverage, wide-ranging National
plans, excellent customer service and 'customer-friendly'
policies. With such a large coverage area
of their own little roaming is necessary,
but their roaming partners normally have
superior coverage. Cons: Some Verizon plans
are a little more expensive, Customer Service
closes at 11pm, but technical assistance
is available 24/7, there are some billing
transition concerns as they take over other
carriers, they don't offer as many "cute"
phones, they 'cripple' some User Interface
functions like larger fonts: make sure you
can read their submenus before buying. Some
of their data services are not available
while roaming.
Click here for additional Verizon Pros & Cons
Get Online Discounts from Verizon Wireless
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