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Cellular
Network Reviews DISH
WIRELESS
Dish Wireless offers its own wireless service under the name Boost Mobile, Ting Mobile and Gen Mobile.  GCI offers wireless service in the largest number of Alaska communities. Their GSM network has been mostly upgraded to 4G LTE coverage with some parts of the outlying network still at 3G. 5G coverage is available in Anchorage and is being added in other GCI fiber-served markets. GCI provides Talk, Text and Data capabilities over most of the inhabited areas of the state. GCI plans are more generous than average, especially for Data, and start at a lower price point, however, it's hard to determine what is included in each plan from their web site. They have a large selection of phones including smartphones and the iPhone, and support a convenient wireless home phone service. GCI has a large number of other telecommunications services that can benefit users with more complicated needs and can be bundled for significant discounts with wireless. GCI has competitive Prepaid plans and supports Lifeline service at $1 per month. ILLINOIS VALLEY CELLULAR Illinois Valley Cellular has notified customers they are terminating service as of the end of 2023. There are no special deals for switching to a new carrier. INDIGO WIRELESS Indigo Wireless was sold to AT&T.  Inland is a small company serving southeast Washington and north central Idaho. They have very good coverage and competitive plan prices. They have a modest selection of phones, most of which are Apple iPhones. Inland offers 4G - LTE coverage in cities and along highways, 3G in most rural areas, and 2G in more remote locations. 4G - LTE roaming is available on the Sprint network, with other Talk, Text, and slower Data roaming available in other parts of the country. They offer a no-contract service, called "Fuel", with a wide variety of plan options. They offer air cards, wireless home phone systems and LifeLine plans. Inland has local stores and good, local customer service.  Limitless serves the center of Pennsylvania. Their parent company is a UK-based wireless support company that may be using their Pennsylvania network as a demonstration project...which may be a good thing. They own a GSM network with a mix of 3G and 4G coverage. They sell a small number of older phones and have a small number of plans with fairly costly data add-ons, and they offer introductory promotions. Their mobile phones can roam outside their home area, but most roaming is limited to the T-Mobile network They offer Senior and Lifeline plans, They also offer wireless Home Internet access through the same network with a nice discount for home and mobile devices on the same account. We have received no reports about their coverage or customer service.  Mobi is Hawaii's own 'home-grown' carrier. Mobi offers coverage on the islands and across the US on the T-Mobile network. Their plans start at $10 for Unlimited Talk and Text and 1 Gb of Data with additional buckets of Data available.  The Nemont Telephone Cooperative provides CDMA wireless service in northeast Montana and northwest North Dakota surrounding Minot. They have good coverage across their area and have upgraded their network to 4G. They offer reasonably-priced plans including nationwide coverage and reasonable data charges. They have very inexpensive Local plans limited to their own coverage area and they offer subsidized Lifeline plans. As part of the local telephone cooperative you can expect better than average customer service and bundles are available. They have a small selection of phones but they include the latest iPhone and Android models  Nex-Tech claims to cover every western Kansas town "with more than 300 people." They are a partnership of several local telephone co-ops so we expect customer service to be above average. Coverage is surprisingly good for a PCS system. They have a wide range of plans that are priced about average with features that include Nationwide roaming. Their own network has been upgraded to 4G LTE and 4G roaming is available in most of Kansas but is limited to more populated areas in the rest of the US. They offer a large selection of CDMA phones including Smart phones and the iPhone, they have several retail locations, and offer numerous promotions. International calling and roaming are available. They offer wireless home phone service and Lifeline plans. NNTC Wireless is part of the Nucla-Naturita Telephone Company in western Colorado. Home coverage is available on several other independent rural systems in CO, UT, OR, ID and WY. They have Local, Unlimited, National and Business plans. Their wireless plans are overpriced but they provide service in some areas where there is no coverage from other carriers. Some features like Voice Mail and Data are charged extra. Their Unlimited Voice plan works in the entire Home area but does not include Long Distance or roaming charges. There are also a number of customer un-friendly fees such as charges for downgrading your plan. They have a small selection of phones, none of which are 4G-capable, and customer service is below average. They offer 3G coverage in most of their service area and there are plans to upgrade to 4G, someday. Nationwide roaming is available which is included in the Nationwide plans or as an extra add-on. You can choose whether or not to have a contract. NNTC offers Fixed Wireless and Lifeline plans but does not offer wireless bundle pricing with their other communications services. Click Here for NNTC's Extended Local Coverage Map.  NorthwestCell, formerly Northwest Missouri Cellular has very good CDMA coverage in their 5-county home area and offers Local, National and Unlimited plans. They probably offer too many plans including Youth, Senior, Prepaid and Lifeline plans, some with too few minutes for too much money. Their plans with Data are reasonable but do not include Unlimited data. They have a fairly large number of phone models including smartphones, the iPhone, hotspots and wireless home phone units. Their network is all 4G LTE but advise you not to be surprised if you experience areas of 3G coverage. NVC offers various communications products as part of The James Valley Telecommunications Company, centered on the town of Aberdeen, South Dakota. They took it upon themselves to improve cellular service in their area by building their own CDMA network. They offer wireless plans with unlimited calls in their local area and a certain amount of roaming usage for a reasonable price. They offer a moderate choice of phones, including smartphones, operate a fairly sophisticated 3G cellular network, and offer bundle discounts with their other telecommunications products. They support LifeLine plans. Local folks usually mean better than average customer service. Optimum Mobile is part of Altice Cable TV, also known as Optimum TV or Suddenlink. Optimum Mobile uses the T-Mobile network, however, Altice has their own "core" network, which may be mostly Wi-Fi, but downloads may be faster than expected. When you roam out of T-Mobile's coverage, Optimum phones will roam on AT&T. In addition, Altice's agreement with T-Mobile automatically expands their nationwide coverage. Optimum plans start at $30 per month for unlimited everything, and if you live outside their cable service area the rate may be higher. We like their deal with AT&T and T-Mobile better than some of the wireless services from other cable companies, although we're still leary of the "Wi-Fi first" network model. This is the cellular division of the OTZ Telephone Cooperative in Kotzebue in northwest Alaska. They have several plans and they include Local Unlimited minutes with various levels of Roaming. Rates are reasonable and include Unlimited roaming in coastal towns across the northern part of the state and Anaktuvuk Pass, but not areas to the south. They have a moderate choice of phones and some features, like Caller ID, are charged extra. OTZ does not offer any kind of Data service on their cellular network but they do offer some Smart phones which can be used in wi-fi hot spots, some of which are provided by OTZ. This means OTZ is using older "2G" technology which has severely restricted the roaming capabilities of these phones now that OTZ's major roaming partner, AT&T, has discontinued 2G coverage. This may be solved by switching to one of the newer OTZ data-capable phones. OTZ does not require service contracts and offers bundles with their other communication services.
Pine serves the southeast quadrant of Oklahoma. This GSM carrier has generous Local and National plans. They offer a large number of phone models including Smart phones and the iPhone. Coverage is very good in most areas, some or all of it is 4G - LTE. They offer both Local and Nationwide plans, Data prices are very competitive and they offer hot spot and wireless home Internet service. They offer 18-month contracts as well as 2 years. Pine Cellular is related to the Pine Telephone Company and offers some bundle discounts. Pine Belt is a CDMA carrier and a part of the Pine Belt Telephone Company. They have good coverage in the west central counties of Alabama. They offer reasonably-priced plans starting as low as $15 (for basic phones). They have a very small selection of phones, very few smartphones, and most of them are overpriced. They encourage you with discounts to bring your own phone. They now claim that more than half of their network has been upgraded to 4G - LTE. PIONEER CELLULAR Pioneer has gone out of the cellular business and customers have been cut loose.  The wireless service of the Panhandle Telephone Cooperative has good coverage in the Oklahoma panhandle. They have a newly-rebuilt 4G LTE network. Plans have been simplified and can be competitive. Plans include Talk, Text and Data both on and off their network but if you "Build Your Plan", the cost may be an unpleasant surprise. They offer a moderate selection of GSM phones including smartphones, iPhones and air cards. Roaming outside their home service area favors the AT&T network. As part of the local telecommunications cooperative they have local stores, better than average customer service and bundled discounts. Don't confuse PTCI of the Panhandle Telephone Cooperative with the PTCI of the Pioneer Telephone Cooperative that serves the adjacent area of Oklahoma. ROCK WIRELESS Rock Wireless is one of the names used by the cellular service of Standing Rock Telecom in North & South Dakota. |
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