I have navigated through your Mountain Wireless site. It is wonderful! Thank you for providing comprehensive information. I am in the southwest portion of MN where Alltel purchased both Western Wireless and Midwest Wireless, which has put me and others in a holding state to possibly be transferred to Unicel CDMA. We have until October to be transferred. Because of our address in SD, we have the opportunity to leave the current contract at any time, without ETF. I have been very pleased with Alltel, except the change to have Sprint as a 1st roaming pref. in certain areas. But actually, I can't say it has been a problem, just a mental idea-lol. I cannot seem to get a solid answer from Unicel as to their roaming partners, and the list preferrence of order. They are offering very good deals to us transition customers, so I am quite interested (if they keep me). I know the PRL for them is 702. Do you know Unicel's CDMA coverage and PRL priority? I see they still offer a Moto V710, and that is reported to have exceptional radio frequency! I am also hoping to use the NAM2 setting to choose either A-side or B-side license, like I can do with the current Nokia 2865i. Any information you can provide is much appreciated. Thanks! If you need a CDMA zip for Unicel's website, 56187 works.
Jason, I'm honored to have such praise for our web site. Minnesota is new territory for us, and our opinions are still evolving. It was just a few days ago I was reminded Unicel was a CDMA carrier there, not GSM like it is farther west. I'm not familiar w/Unicel's PRL, but even if we knew the order, it could change over the period of your next contract. Over the past year, Sprint has been a superior carrier in the MN area where Verizon is quite limited in that area. Verizon would be the alternative CDMA roaming partner, so, if I had a choice, I would choose Sprint in rural MN, but that would be after Alltel. Judged on what you know today, a known carrier, Alltel, has the better chance of serving your coverage needs, regardless of their choice of roaming partners. And, in your case, Sprint may be the better roaming choice, anyway. Unicel, as a CDMA carrier, is very small, and does not have the clout of Alltel. That tells me they may not have as many roaming agreements. Having said all that, I must add there's nothing like a good deal. And if Unicel were to practically give away the store, and I mean with plans and services, not necessarily cheap phones, there is little reason to avoid them. I would put the contents of their PRL several steps down from the top of the list of what would be the best choice for your purposes.
Bill- Thank you for the help. I was able to speak with a nice tech with Unicel, and he said when out of the Unicel home area, it uses Verizon, USCellular, Alltel, Sprint, and any tower that supports the CDMA 850/1900 and AMPS technology. He said it's true nationwide with no SID neg's. The nat'l coverage map on the Unicell website is quite good, dare I say better than VZW, but I understand they are representations. I think it may be worth a try, as Unicel reps said they do not have a 50% roaming rule, or don't enfore it, if there is one. The reps have been quite friendly, and have always been available. To relist with Alltel, Nat'l plan: 1000mins $50, N&W @ 7pm $7, 300 texts $6. = $63 Unicel: Nat'l plan: 800mins w/ free incoming calls $50, unlmtd N&W @ 6pm $5, 300 texts w/ free incoming texts $7, voicemail $4. = $66 The rep said I am already a Unicel customer, just awaiting the full transition. Do you think this will be fine? Opinions on the Moto V710 or Nokia 2865i, as far as reception or other? Again, thank you! And yes, your site is very helpful; I spent a couple hours searching through it. It is nice to see Sprint doing so much better. In this area, friends that use it have been most pleased, and I have been impressed. The T-mobile service has been getting A LOT better in this area this past year, in fact it works everywhere the other phones work. It will allow roaming on 3-5 different providers.
$63 vs. $66 isn't much difference. Do you have any family members on either system? If not, would Alltel's "Circle" save you some money? Unicel would be as good a choice as any, and if true, it's handy there are no NEG-ed PRL entries. But Sprint could still be preferred, in your area that would be a good thing. I would still ask each of them if they'll throw in one of those features for free, or for no contract. Both Motorola and Nokia are top performing phones for CDMA.
I'd be concerned over things like M2M and local coverage. The old Alltel (now Unicel) network in SW Minnesota was only fair (in my opinion/experience) in comparison to the Midwest Wireless network.
I agree, the Midwest Wireless system is hard to beat. I used that company for 7 years, until residing in Sioux Falls, SD. However, if it's any consolation, Unicel has already started construction on 20 new cell sites in the territory they purchased from Alltel. Thank you for the great advice. I appreciate the bartering idea, Bill,...to ask for some free items.
By now you should have heard that Verizon is buying Unicel. I prefer Alltel over Verizon. Sadly, I bet all of those unique Unicel plans will go away under Verizon. Some people are thrilled Verizon is coming. They're taking over a pretty good network.
Sadly, I have heard the news that VZW has purchased Unicel . I did use your leverage idea, and was allowed unlimited N&W@6pm, which is suppose to continue when VZW completely takes over in February 08. I better not hold my breath-lol. Also, it is rumored by the reps that VZW is scrapping the plans on the addition of 20 new cell sitres. Talking to various other customers that are being taken by VZW has shown not much happiness. The only positive thing I have heard is VZW M2M with friends&family in other parts of the US. There is A LOT of aggrevation about taking away early N&W and scrapping, or at least reducing, the 20 new cell sites. If the situation becomes bad, I will try to get out and switch back to Alltel...and several others have the same idea, especially since so many of our friends that were MWW are now seemingly happy Alltel customers.