Anyone happy with T-Mobile service in the Nashville area?

[Muse]

Hi all! I am struggling with a decision of whether to break my contract (up in March of 2008) and leave Sprint for T-Mobile, and need some advice, please. Here's my story:

I had T-Mobile from 1998 to 2003, but changed to Sprint because I could not get coverage in some areas of my city (about 30 miles outside of the Nashville area... not in the country, but close to it.) I love my Sprint service and phone, but I am constantly charged for things I don't use, and honestly, I don't believe their Internet service is really worth $15 a month.

I am really tired of spending $70 a month plus being charged for any bogus charges and having to call Sprint every month to argue with them. But I am afraid that T-Mobile will not have as good of coverage. I have visited a couple of T-Mobile resellers, who have told me that the T-Mobile network has gotten a lot better since I left them in 2003, but I don't know if I can believe someone who is trying to sell me something.

Is there anyone in this forum who lives in my area that is happy (or unhappy for that matter) with their T-Mobile service? Below is my current Sprint plan compared to the T-Mobile plan I would get:

Sprint: $50 a month for 400 anytime minutes and unlimited nights and weekends (starting at 6 p.m.); Internet is $15 a month; 300 texts are $5 a month (texting does not include pictures or video, just texts).

T-Mobile: $39.99 for the 300 minute MyFaves plan (unlimited calls to any five numbers, unlimited nights and weekends); Internet is $5.99 per month; 400 texts for $4.99 per month (that can include pictures and video, as well as text.)

Thanks again so much for any help--I am so confused!!!

[storkus]

Let me reply to the service question first: assuming that this may have been part
of Cingular's network before and was given over to T-Mobile after the merger,
like it was here, I can personally say it worked fine for me along the interstates
and in the cities. If that doesn't apply (someone please chime in here), then
never mind...

Ok, now on to the plans: You have to ask yourself what you're using more of.
Are you calling 5 or less other cell phones on other networks all the time, or is it
more than that? Are you using lots of peak minutes, or is having off-peak starting
at 6pm making a big difference? This is important: regardless of the rumors,
peak minutes are until 9pm on T-Mobile right now, and depending on your calling
habits, that 3 hour window may make a big difference!

As for the internet and messaging, how much do you use these? Can you live
without them or do you depend on them? Sprint's 3G (broadband) rollout is
widespread while I don't think T-Mobile has even started on theirs yet. This
doesn't matter with texting but can make a big difference with internet-type
features, especially if you're tethering.

You didn't mention if you travel overseas: a CDMA phone, like Sprint, ALLTEL,
or Verizon uses, won't work over there, whereas a T-Mobile or Cingular one
should with no trouble at all (providing you're willing to be soaked with roaming
fees). On the other hand, if you go into rural areas in the Americas, most CDMA
phones are backwards compatible with the old analog system and the coverage
(albeit just to make phone calls) is much more widespread than with GSM.

Finally, you mentioned the lousy customer "service". T-Mobile has been known
for it's good customer service for a long time, whereas just the opposite is
Sprint's reputation (which, from your statement above, only confirms it).

Oh, and if you care, Sprint is an American company, while T-Mobile is Deuche
Telekom's (Germany's version of AT&T pre-break-up) worldwide brand name,
and is owned by them.

I hope this helps at least some, and isn't information overload (I do that to people
way too much).

Mike