Released: June 21, 2007

Wireless choice far from clear

Source: Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post (Free Registration)

Picking a wireless-phone service is supposed to have gotten easy. Competition and consolidation over the past couple of years have led most companies to adopt the same basic price structure, making it easy to compare rates. Two-week trials are standard. And, in the biggest improvement the business has seen lately, you can keep your phone number when switching service.

But you still have to puzzle through hundreds of options from the five nationwide services: AT&T (formerly Cingular), Nextel and Sprint (although the companies merged in 2005, they’re still separate services), Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile. And the things you need to scrutinize most still can’t be found in the large print in their ads.

The most important of those is coverage. All carriers have areas of weak or no reception, which you can inspect on the coverage maps posted on their Web sites.

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