become extremely confusing. A calling plan should be chosen based on the following: 1) When the phone will be used. 2) For how long each day it will be used. 3) Where the phone calls will be made from. 4) Whom the user will be calling. These factors can quickly get confusing when you take into consideration the different home/roaming areas of each provider. Both Verizon and Cingular now offer three plans for coverage. One a local coverage area, which generally covers from Buffalo to Albany from east to west, with a limited coverage north and south of the I-90. The second plan offered by both covers a good portion of the east coast, down through Maryland for Verizon, and through Virginia for Cingular. Both Verizon and Cingular have recently added national plans to their available coverage options, and although these plans are more expensive than the local and regional, they can make sense for many. Although some areas are not covered within these National Plans, they generally cover the entire continental United States. A good portion of the Midwest for Cingular is not covered while Verizon does cover most of this area. However Verizon does not cover much of the breadbasket of the US, namely Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, all of which have no coverage. Sprints plans are all national, but only for 300 major metropolitan areas which excludes millions of Americans, this leads to exorbitant roaming charges which can be accumulated out of necessity in ones home town. This is true especially for the Midwest and the west coast. Contained on this page are the national coverage areas of the three providers. The complicated coverage of these maps is often forgotten while one is on vacation or making long-distance calls, that is why choosing a local or regional plan can often times make more sense. Sprints Free and Clear plan, as you can see by the map, is neither free nor clear in all areas. Although their coverage is expanding...
