T-Mobile USA

I originally started T-Mobile prepaid because I was on Verizon and wanted to play with some unlocked GSM phones.  I didn't want to start another contract at thetime, so instead I started a prepaid account with T-Mobile.

I found the terms to be very fair... minutes expire after 90 days, unless you get to the point where you have purchased $100 worth of airtime.  At that point you hit the "Gold Rewards" level and minutes do not expire for a year. Up until expiration if you add any airtime the unused minutes renew to the next expiration time.  I have a couple of thousand minutes loaded on the account, and every 11 months or so I throw five bucks on to keep the account alive.

I have found T-Mobile's prepaid network coverage to be pretty good.  My house is almost a Verizon dead spot, and T-Mobile works pretty well in areas of the house where Verizon does not.

As long as the coverage maps (which I have found to be pretty accurate) on T-Mobile's Web site show that you have coverage where you need it, I can wholeheartedly recommend T-Mobile for prepaid service.

After a few maddening interactions with the customer service people at AT&T back in 2005, I switched over to T-Mobile, which immediately impressed me with its customer service--it was night and day. At one point a rep. even offered to call me back in a month to check in on a change to my account.

Unfortunately, when it came to doing what I was actually paying them for--that is, making it possible for me to talk to other people not within shouting distance--they couldn't hold a candle to AT&T, at least not in SF. Dropped calls, dead zones, etc. And when, just after a month in, it became clear that it wasn't an improvement at all, customer service turned hard-nosed, and refused to release me from my contract.

When my contract ended a year later, I promptly switched back to AT&T.

T-Mobile has been good to me over the years. There is no other carrier that I will get as much with as I get with them. That being said, it's gonna be time for me to move on if things don't change as far as phone selection and 3G coverage. I hear that there are great things coming up the pike so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm pretty happy with T-Mobile. I've got a 300 minute plan for myself and a second for my wife for $30/month each. After taxes and everything, it comes out to around $74 per month for the two of us. We don't use the phone a whole lot, so I was just looking for a cheap plan without too many minutes, and T-Mobile had the best deal. I haven't had any problems with the coverage. In fact, I've been places where i have better coverage than my co-workers with different plans.

With the plan I got a free phone with bluetooth capability, and my wife got one with a camera. I was kind of hoping to get a phone with both features, but they're both pretty good.