AT&T vs. Verizon Cell Phone Plan Comparison: Here's How They Measure Up with Price, Coverage, and Data
AT&T and Verizon are the two biggest cell phone providers in America by coverage area and customer subscriptions. Various reports confirm that AT&T offers the fastest 3G/HSPA+/4G LTE data speeds due to it's advanced network(s). Yet, the overwhelming consensus is that Verizon is more reliable for talking and texting. AT&T suffers from spotty cell coverage; in fact my area of town gets no signal whatsoever. However, Verizon's 3G and HSPA+ data networks are unbearably slow. Each carrier has their own strengths and weaknesses. Let's take a look at who offers the best plan.
AT&T offers four plans: Mobile Share, Prepaid, International and AT&T Next. Verizon counters with several plans of their own: Share Everything, Single Line Plans and Verizon Edge. Both carriers also offer business plans, though this article will focus on the consumer.
With share plans you can save a bundle of money by activating more lines of service. You can activate up to ten lines per account. Each lines shares a bucket of data. This is good and bad. Since you don't have unlimited data you can easily blow through the lower data caps (2, 4 and 6GB etc.). A larger pool of data, say 10GB, will set you back $100 bucks on both AT&T and Verizon. Individual device and line activations are separate.
AT&T GoPhone and Verizon Pay as You Go, like their names imply, are contract-free. Smartphones, particularly iPhone's and premium Android handsets cost a ton of money per month. The texting and phone calling are fairly priced, but the data costs are excruciatingly high. By getting a contract free phone you can enjoy lower data speed costs.
With GoPhone you have access to AT&T's entire 4G LTE network at a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately, Verizon's Pay as You Go phones only utilize the 3G/HSPA+ network. Downloading files and movies may not be the best bet on Verizon's prepaid network then. However prepaid users don't have access to the best customer service.
Don't even think about getting AT&T Next or Verizon Edge service plans. Sure you'll be able to upgrade your smartphone twice per year, but you never actually own the phone. Plus, unless you're an Android user or someone who isn't an exclusive iPhone user, you'll likely only upgrade once per year anyway. And these plans also cost way more money over the long run than traditional two-year contracts.
Would you ever switch cell phone providers? Let me know in the comments section below.
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