Understanding Cell Phone Providers: AT&T

In a truck driving job you are on the road for weeks at a time, which means you need a reliable way to stay in contact with your friends and family. In the past, that meant knowing where the pay phones were and making sure you had enough change in your pocket. Now, however, it means having a cell phone and cell phone provider you can rely on.

There are a lot of cell phone providers out there, each one claiming to be the best. So the question to ask is which one really is the best? Well, I can’t answer that. Knowing which provider is the best is very subjective, it depends on what you want. Do you want the fastest data, the most coverage, or the fanciest phone? Each provider is different and has different positives and negatives, so I really can’t tell you which provider to choose.

What I can do, however, is tell you about some of the more prominent cell phone providers to help you be better prepared to make the choice yourself. Last month I covered the cell phone provider Verizon Wireless. Today, I will discuss AT&T.

AT&T is one of the most popular cell phone providers in America, but why is that? One reason might be that AT&T was the first carrier to provide the iPhone and in many cases still seems to have some of the most technologically advanced phones. Indeed, AT&T has phones such as the Sony Ericsson Xperia which allows users to play PlayStation games on their phone and even comes with 7 different PlayStation games.

One downside to having such advanced phones, however, is the price you pay. AT&T certainly is not the cheapest cell provider, nor are they very close to being so. Especially if you are looking at purchasing one of their smart phones, you are looking at spending at the very least about $60 per month for minimal voice and data plans, not including any messaging features which would raise the price.

AT&T has the availability for both single and family plans. A family plan, of course, is more expensive than an individual plan, but if you look at it as paying for more than one phone (which is what a family plan is) it is a cheaper option.

The price of your plan also depends on what options you select. On their website for individual plans AT&T has options for unlimited minutes or 900 of 450. Unlimited is the more expensive choice with 450 being the lowest. One benefit of going with AT&T is that they have Rollover Minutes. What that means, is that if you don’t use one month’s minutes they will carry over to the next month. AT&T also has a selection of data plans which you can select depending on how much data you use.

AT&T is a very large cell phone provider and they have many great features that make them one of the top providers in the nation. They of course have positives and negatives, but so do all providers. AT&T has great data plans and many high-tech features and would be a great provider for someone who is looking for more than just a phone.

Want to know about more cell phone providers? Take a look at our Verizon Wireless article where you can find highlights about Verizon Wireless.