Cell phone data plan comparison: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and more

Oct 28th 2010 at 11:00AM

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Cell phone data plans are hard to escape these days as hundreds of thousands of Google Android phones and Apple iPhones are activated every day. These smartphones bring access to the Web, streaming music, videos and apps -- all of which require a data connection to work. Most carriers now require a data package of some kind to be sold alongside these phones.
Over the past year carriers have rolled out many plan changes, switching from a one-size-fits all expensive unlimited data plan to cheaper, tiered-data plans. This choice is a double-edged sword. Many consumers would benefit from a smaller data plan and the carriers are competing on the cost of such plans, but also banking on the confusion of consumers to understand just how much data they need. Also, bundling data with minutes and other features makes comparison shopping troublesome.
On the heels of Verizon's new lower data plans, we've dug into the nitty gritty of cell phone data to find the plan pricing at the four major carriers: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, as well as the plans available from several pre-paid carriers like Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile.
The following chart compares the cost of just the data plans for the four major carriers. If the data plan price cannot be removed from a package of minutes, as is the case with Sprint smart phones, a price is not listed. The next chart will help you compare the cost of data plans and minutes.
Data Plan Pricing for Major Carriers (as of October 28, 2010):

Feature Phone/smart phonesmart phone only$15/Mo unlimited (no smartphones)
Because many carriers bundle the data plan with minutes, making a data plan-to-data plan comparison difficult, we've compiled the following chart that compares the price of minutes, data and sometimes texting to help you figure out which carrier would be the best deal for you. While the differences may seem minor by month, the annual cost can vary hundreds of dollars between each plan.
Data Plan Price Comparison with Minutes and Texting for smart phones (as of October 28 2010)
Carrier/Plan300-500 Minutes Cheapest Data300-500 Minutes and 2GB to Unlimited Data500 to 1200 minutes and 2GB to Unlimited DataUnlimited Minutes, Texting and 2GB to Unlimited Data
Bolded: Prices include unlimited texting
With the new tiered-data plans, many users who don't plan to watch streaming movies or listen to services like Pandora can survive on the lower-end plans. If you are a streaming media junkie who isn't around a reliable WiFi connection, you will often want to go for the higher-end or unlimited data plans.
The good news is that the data plans can be switched easily on most carriers allowing you to pick one and evaluate your usage after a month or two. the other good news is that going over the limit is generally more affordable now, though you'll want to check with your carrier instead of assuming it has a heart.
If you want to further compare plans and coverage, we suggest you check out BillShrink's free cell phone price comparison tool, which can even analyze your current usage to help you find the best plan for your needs and location.
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Sprint dings Verizon on unlimited data pricing

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Join DateJan 2006Posts4,799PhoneLG Revolution w/ 4G LTE, Samsung Galaxy S II 1 1/2G, Blackberry 8350i iDEN 8G PTTCarrierVerizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Southern Linc iDENFeedback Score0

If it makes everyone here feel better about paying through the roof for Verizon then go for the insults
i use to make fun of Sprint until i got them, both suck here in Phoenix compared to the GSM providers (muffled voice, low 3g speeds)
Sprint and VZ are neck and neck here as far as data speeds but the voice quality is actually worse on VZ than Sprint because of the EVRC-B codec, so for CDMA i'll keep Sprint and for GSM i'll keep T-Mobile because the AMR-FR codec and consistent 5+Mbps on my 3G phone cannot be touched by CDMA (and dont go on about LTE, until they make a phone that lasts all day on a charge with normal use for LTE i dont wanna hear it)
Enjoy your Full rate while you can because its pretty obvious what AT&T will do.
AT&T's 3G network has been switched to AMR-HR nationally, and GSM basically is. Thats what happens when a company has a lot of customers in the wireless industry. T-Mobile sounds great, but they are losing millions of customers and still are the smallest, Sprint also has half the customers of Verizon and AT&T.
So even though a few people say Verizon just sounds terrible, they must be doing something right to have as many customers and still having gains.
And I don't have to make myself feel any better for paying what I do with Verizon (funny thing is I pay less with Verizon than I would with Sprint), because their network is so horrible in the Southeast I would be wasting money to deal with that crap.

T-Mobile - Get more for less!!!
T-Mobile's HSPA+ Network from my Samsung Galaxy S 4G Tether to my MBA via PDAnet in Alabama

My Verizon HTC Thunderbolt on 4G LTE (real 4G) in Atlanta, GA

AT&T's HSPA+ 4G Network at its best (Literally)

Join DateJan 2006Posts4,799PhoneLG Revolution w/ 4G LTE, Samsung Galaxy S II 1 1/2G, Blackberry 8350i iDEN 8G PTTCarrierVerizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Southern Linc iDENFeedback Score0Join DateMar 2004LocationTempe, AZ (ASU Campus)Posts4,404PhonesBB Tour (T-Mobile & Sprint) / Vibrant, Optimus T, MyTouch 4g (when i want to charge 10x a day)Backup Phones: Who knows how many in a drawer...CarrierT-Mobile, SprintFeedback Score0

Enjoy your Full rate while you can because its pretty obvious what AT&T will do.
AT&T's 3G network has been switched to AMR-HR nationally, and GSM basically is. Thats what happens when a company has a lot of customers in the wireless industry. T-Mobile sounds great, but they are losing millions of customers and still are the smallest, Sprint also has half the customers of Verizon and AT&T.
So even though a few people say Verizon just sounds terrible, they must be doing something right to have as many customers and still having gains.
And I don't have to make myself feel any better for paying what I do with Verizon (funny thing is I pay less with Verizon than I would with Sprint), because their network is so horrible in the Southeast I would be wasting money to deal with that crap.
I use to be the biggest VZ fanboy (look at previous posts on here) until i moved to Phoenix, VZ is just awful here (not to mention i had plenty of dropped calls to go along with the VZ bill, something i never experienced with VZ until i came out west here)
My phone would not ring, and i'd just get a VM notification anywhere from 2hrs to 2 days later, i always had bars but that did not mean they were reliable bars.. I have a phone on page plus that still does the above so VZ obviously has not bothered to fix it here

Join DateJan 2006Posts4,799PhoneLG Revolution w/ 4G LTE, Samsung Galaxy S II 1 1/2G, Blackberry 8350i iDEN 8G PTTCarrierVerizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Southern Linc iDENFeedback Score0

I use to be the biggest VZ fanboy (look at previous posts on here) until i moved to Phoenix, VZ is just awful here (not to mention i had plenty of dropped calls to go along with the VZ bill, something i never experienced with VZ until i came out west here)
My phone would not ring, and i'd just get a VM notification anywhere from 2hrs to 2 days later, i always had bars but that did not mean they were reliable bars.. I have a phone on page plus that still does the above so VZ obviously has not bothered to fix it here
Maybe in your area, but for the many areas like mine Verizon works best and they dominate every other carrier. AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint can't come close to the 3G data coverage nor voice coverage down here. Just as T-Mobile works great in your area, it doesn't work so well in others.
T-Mobile lists our metro as "4G", but I can name a lot of places where the tower has no backhaul so its only up to 1Mbit/s, voice quality is good but the coverage still isn't as vast as Verizon.
Obviously I am not just stuck on Verizon because I have all the major carriers, and I carry all my phone's with me. And when I travel the best service is Verizon and then AT&T, Verizon does have problem areas but they are rated the best and doing the best right now for a reason. And its not just because they have been sitting on their butts.

Join DateAug 2001LocationRedwood Valley,Northwestern California(97-)/Pocatello,Idaho(90-97)/Covina,SoCal Born&Raised(71-90)Posts21,348CarriersVerizon;U.S. Cellular(in-market roaming w/VZ)Feedback Score0

U.S. Cellular (1) and Verizon (2) definitely dominate here. AT&T is third, T-Mobile is fourth (and still the only carrier here that has no 3G) and Metro PCS brings up the rear.

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Get 300 Minutes for Free from Sprint

Browse > Home / Sprint / Get 300 Minutes for Free from Sprint

Sprint now offers bonus 300 minutes for those who sign a new Everything Data 450 or upgrade their existing plans. These free 300 minutes are on top of 450 minutes already included in the plan. That give you a total of 750 anytime minutes to use every month. Do you really need that many minutes? For most of us, you won’t use the minutes up that easily since Sprint unlimited nights start at 7pm, 2 hours earlier than other carriers. You never know. In addition, Mobile to mobile within calling does not count toward the monthly limit.

How do you add free minutes to your Sprint account? New customers, you need to sign up a new 2-year contract to qualify for the promo. We strongly recommending getting a EVO Shift 4G or EVO 4G as both are on sale for $0.00. Existing subscribers, you can take advantage of best Sprint upgrade deals and renew your current contract. For those who are not yet eligible for upgrade, you can still call customer service and request 300 free minutes from Sprint. Hurry this offer ends soon.

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Should You Buy Wi-Fi XOOM or Wait for 4G Version from Sprint

Browse > Home / Sprint / Should You Buy Wi-Fi XOOM or Wait for 4G Version from Sprint

You might have heard that the Motorola XOOM is the first real iPad killer (we seriously think it kills the first generation iPad) and it will be available in Wi-Fi only and 4G version. Sprint will be the exclusive 4G WiMax carrier for the XOOM and the device will be available this summer for a little over $600, pretty much in line with iPad 2 32GB price. The Wi-Fi XOOM is already selling at Best Buy, Staples, and Radio Shack. The only place that’s selling the 4G LTE is Verizon Wireless stores. But keep in mind that you will have to send back the XOOM to Motorola for a hardware/software update in order to take advantage the 4G Verizon network. So, should you wait for the WiMax 4G version from Sprint or buy the Wi-Fi only version now? If you are frequent traveler and don’t want to bring your laptop with you all the time, the 4G is ideal choice. Besides, you will save at least $200 over the retail price if you are willing to commit to a 2-year contract. And of course the biggest benefit is the super fast broadband like wireless speed from Sprint.

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