In Part I of this article we did a comparison of the national single line offerings & prices of the four major cellular service providers -- Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. In Part II we will do a similar comparison of national shared or family pricing. Again, these prices are as of June 22, 2006 and are based on twenty major market cities in the U.S.: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC. Again, the data were extracted from the brochures of the subject companies.
Additional Line per month
T-Mobile: $9.99 (after second line)
Cingular: $9.99
Verizon: $9.99
Sprint: $10.00
Additional Line Activation Fee
T-Mobile: $35.00 (1- & 2-year)
Cingular: $26.00 (1- & 2-year)
Verizon: $35.00 (1-year); $25 (2-year)
Sprint: $18.00 (2-year; 1-year n/a)
$59.99/mo.
T-Mobile: 700 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Cingular: 550 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Verizon: -no plan offered-
Sprint: 550 anytime min. (base plan)
Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.)
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
$69.99/mo.
T-Mobile: 1,000 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Cingular: 700 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Verizon: 700 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Sprint: 800 anytime min. (base plan)
Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.)
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
$89.99/mo.
T-Mobile: -no plan offered-
Cingular: 1,400 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Verizon: 1,400 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Sprint: 1,500 anytime min. (base plan)
Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.)
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
$99.99/mo.
T-Mobile: 2,000 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Cingular: -no plan offered-
Verizon: -no plan offered-
Sprint: -no plan offered-
$109.00/mo.
T-Mobile: -no plan offered-
Cingular: 2,100 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Verizon: 2,100 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Sprint: 2,200 anytime min. (base plan)
Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.)
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
$129.00/mo.
T-Mobile: 3,000 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Cingular: -no plan offered at this price-
Verizon: -no plan offered at this price-
Sprint: -no plan offered at this price-
$149.99/mo.
T-Mobile: -no plan offered-
Cingular: 3,000 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Verizon: 3,000 anytime min.
Unlimited night (9:00 p.m.) & weekend min.
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
Sprint: 3,000 anytime min. (base plan)
Unlimited night min. (7:00 p.m.)
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile min.
So, again it appears that T-Mobile is the most cost effective carrier from an “anytime” min. perspective whereas both Cingular and Sprint still offer the customer a bit more flexibility as to when night minutes can start, albeit at an additional cost.
The author is webmaster of Zavzak Electronics, online provider of quality personal electronics products at excellent prices. |
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