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by Russell Beattie.
Original Post: Carrier Choice Redux: Still Torn
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So I can't figure out what I want to do about my cellphone contract. It's between T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless, but I'm not sure which one I want.
If I sign up for a new "family" account online with AT&T, I can get two cool phones pretty much for free (my choices: a SonyEricsson T610 and a Nokia 6200) and I get to play with EDGE which has been rolled out nationally. A one year contract would cost me about $80 a month for the two lines for about 600 minutes with nights and weekends free. (You guys in Europe, don't ask wtf "minutes" are, it's unbelievely complex). AT&T doesn't have a plan for data, though, and the mMode services are a bit expensive.
T-Mobile doesn't have *nearly* as good of a selection of phones, and they're much more expensive - It'd cost me $150+ for the two phones above. The costs per month are a bit cheaper, but that's offset with the $19.99 all-you-can-eat GRPS data plan which pretty much kicks ass.
I'm torn. Pay by the kb and get some cool phones (one with EDGE), or pay up front for the phones and get all the data I want. Hmmmmmmm.... Plus there's a lot of questions about which carrier has better coverage here in the Bay Area. Yes, believe it or not, that's a real question, sadly. And it looks like AT&T may have the edge here.
I'm not sure what to do. What I should've done is just signed up for a plan back in October using my brother's address in southern California (which is how I bought my car), but I wasn't thinking. It would've saved me a ton of cash. But that's in the past... now I've got to figure out what I want: The chance to use EDGE (for a price) or all I can eat GPRS now... Hmmmmmm...
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