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Ratings of Cellular Carriers
These Ratings are based on our opinion of
what is important and how each carrier performs
in those areas. The higher the score, the
better. The better the coverage, or the lower
the price, the better the 'score'. We take
into account Coverage, Pricing, Roaming Partners,
Frequency, Customer Service and Features.
When "Total" scores are close,
consider attributes that are more or less
important to you, like off-network Roaming.
Check our Comments about each carrier's ratings. Rank by subscriber
numbers is Here. This page updated August 9, 2010.
|
| Rank |
Carrier |
On-Network
Coverage |
Off-Network
Coverage |
Cost |
Customer Service |
Total |
| 1 |
US Cellular |
5 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
15 |
| 2 |
Verizon |
5 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
14 |
| 3 |
Alltel* |
5 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
14 |
| 4 |
AT&T |
4 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
13 |
| 5 |
T-Mobile |
3 |
4# |
3 |
3 |
13 |
| 6 |
Sprint |
3 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
| 7 |
Cricket |
2 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
| 8 |
Metro PCS |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
| 9 |
Nextel |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
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* Our rating reflects Alltel as operated
by ATN.
# Phone model dependent
KEY:
- On-Network Coverage: (1 = worst, 5 = best) How much area the
carrier covers with all services, and within
their own service area, the coverage quality.
- Off-Network Coverage: (0 = none, 5 = best) How much area can be
accessed through roaming partners.
- Cost: (1 = least value, 3 = most value) How much
you get for your money.
- Customer Service: (1 = Below, 2 = Average, 3 = Above)
Additional Comments
Click on the carrier name for detailed reviews
- ALLTEL has excellent coverage, but with a smaller
native service area depends more on roaming
partners, and you can be booted off the network
for excessive roaming. This mostly affect
Wireless Internet customers. They have good
customer service and plans. Our rating reflects
the Alltel that has been acquired by ATN and continues to use the name, "Alltel
Wireless". For now, Alltel users get
Mobile to Mobile capabilities with Verizon
customers.
- AT&T gets lower marks for their variable customer
service and network capacity problems. Also,
while they have extensive roaming agreements,
they get a slight deduction because there
are fewer areas of GSM coverage, mostly in
the rural west. This situation will improve
somewhat with the acquisition of Alltel properties.
In some parts of the country, mostly east
of the Mississippi River, AT&T gets a better score for on-network coverage.
- CRICKET's own network is available in more than
half of the 50 states and offers primarily
"Unlimited" minutes. They now offer
Voice and Text roaming in all 50 states with
agreements through other carriers, also Unlimited.
In some places they suffer from weak Local
coverage.
- METRO PCS is a fast-growing "Unlimited"
carrier. They are available in many large
markets and offer a variety of plans. Roaming
is available, some of it Unlimited. Coverage
reports have been better than expected for
a new carrier.
- NEXTEL gets low marks for their inability to roam
on any other networks. Also, their parent
company, Sprint, states they are no longer
upgrading the Nextel network nor adding any
new coverage.
- SPRINT gets a slightly lower rating for coverage
due to its strictly PCS (1900 MHz) frequency,
however, they partly make up for it with
excellent broadband and roaming capabilities.
- T-MOBILE gets credit for optimizing their all-PCS
(1900 MHz) network better than others, but
is penalized for fewer roaming abilities.
Their Prepaid plans actually offer more roaming
capabilities than most other Prepaid services.
- US CELLULAR has very good coverage and adequate roaming
agreements. They have a much more customer-friendly
attitude than the larger carriers.
- VERIZON has excellent coverage, but is a little
more expensive. Their customer service department
actually closes at 11pm (but not if you have
a technical problem), but makes up for it
with excellent customer support. Roaming
is excellent for Verizon customers but isn't
often needed.
Also: Wireless Carrier Rankings Based on Customer
Numbers
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