Sprint doesn't happen to have a plan where roaming is free, do they? Their website is not very good on the description of the plan.. Jacob
No, most of there plans are the free and clear plans which is no roaming or long distance charges while on there network to anybody in the US. Go into analog mode though or another companies Digital and you face roaming charges, however they do have a $10 a month option that gives you 50 roaming minutes I believe.
Verizon also offers Nationwide Plans besides their AC plan. I'm not sure how their minutes compare to Cingular though...
Verizon's no roaming nationwide plans aren't so good, they don't throw in any night and weekend minutes and they don't include many anytime minutes. Cingular's are much better they throw in more daytime minutes and give you 3,500 night and weekend minutes. Compare there rates below for my area and you will see. Verizon's National Single Rate 150: $35 a month with 150 anytime minutes included. Cingular Nation 250: $29.99 a month with 250 daytime minutes and 3,500 night and weekend minutes included.
It obvious by those prices that Verizon is trying to push people towards their AC plans instead of the Nationwide. The AC plan does offer a very good nationwide coverage area, but if you want a true nationwide plan, it looks like Cingular's offerings are pretty good. How do they compare to AT&T?
(Dukedog) I think all carriers offer free roaming with lots of minutes included by now... and also Cingular only recently came out with this no-roaming charge plans recently. I know because they used to charge me through the roof for roaming fees. I think actually VS offers still significantly more nationwide (peak)minutes than Cingular for the same money C.
Wait a sec. Cingular is all GSM in some places like CA and NV. How can they offer no roaming plans when their phones here are single band? That means no analog coverage am I right? If that's the case then they don't even offer as much national coverage as Sprint does on their own network.
That's a good point. While the TDMA nationwdie might be a good deal, with their GSM nationwide plans, they must just offer no roaming where you're lucky enough to get a GSM signal. Until they get their GAIT phones, they won't be able to offer a true natiowide plan. Interesting sidenote: I was looking at some of the GSM offerings in the West, and they now have the Ericsson t61z listed as a phone option.
Yeah you have to keep in mind when talking about Cingular and their plans that they have a mixed network and National roaming is not available in all states.
my overall feeling around here in kansas topeka since att has not made it here yet and they offer gsm is kansas city only. I looked into the cingular versus the ac plan that i am on with verizon right now except that i didnt like their tdma phones and i am partial to the speakerphone with the motorola 270c. I had an upgrade of the software with verizon and they have been good with the warranty and gave me a new phone body and updated software. So far I have not dropped a call with it. If cingular made a good phone with a speakerphone built into it I would consider it further. But right now I guess I am happy with VZ's ac plan. Check out the new 50028 prl if you travel to a us cell zone in IL, IN, MO, IA or Maine as they are now included in this new PRL.
Even if you are in Cingular Gsm market, with the nationwide plans you still would have coverage in mostly every major city provide by roaming agreements, also VS does not offer nationwide plans that covers areas that they do not cover, even if you on a nationwide plan with VS and you travel to a area they do not cover you would be charged for roaming.Cingular nationwide plan is pretty good, but only if you travel alot.
Dukedog perhaps the situation is different because I am in the western Cingular market. I got the cingular national plan meaning that I can use all cingular and roaming partner gsm coverage. this means in the end, I use the Cingular network in Cali and Nevada (and Carolinas, I think) and the voicestream network everywhere else (Att in some parts of Washington) Upshot: Cingular Coverage = Voicestream Coverage = US GSM coverage. Everywhere else my phone is dead (even if it would be covered by Cingular TDMA because they do not have GSM/TDMA phones yet - in contrast to ATT who offers the S-46) And then u get more peak minutes for the $$$ from VS. C.
<< Even if you are in Cingular Gsm market, with the nationwide plans you still would have coverage in mostly every major city provide by roaming agreements, also VS does not offer nationwide plans that covers areas that they do not cover, even if you on a nationwide plan with VS and you travel to a area they do not cover you would be charged for roaming.Cingular nationwide plan is pretty good, but only if you travel alot. >> Huh? VS has roaming agreements with every major US GSM operator except AT&T, and AT&T has nothing to offer VS. I am pretty sure everywhere AT&T has GSM, VS or Cingular is already there so a VS customer doesn't need AT&T.
Aiwapro is right VoiceStream has roaming agreemeants with Cingular and other GSM providers. There plans include Digital roaming so if you are on a VoiceStream network or on another GSM network like Cingular it doesn't make a difference the rates are still the same. By the way Yes I agree the TDMA Cingular network with the Nation Plans is a better deal then the GSM network ones considering you get analog coverage added too, but still GSM is avaible in most major city in the US and some smaller places so for some thats not a problem. So it's still a good deal none the less
Yeah DukeDog you're wrong there, Voicestream FREE Roaming means FREE Roaming. You don't get charged extra for it. Trust me, I have been traveling on other networks with my phone, and I have not been charged. Hey setheriah, I just looked at the Voicestream website, and they have coverage in several cities in Kansas, including Topeka. Look for yourself, it right here in Voicestream's Kansas - City Listings. This listing, lists all of the cities that you can go to in Kansas and have coverage.
