Which network will you choose?

Many iPhone users in USA had issues and complaints regarding the AT&T network and their coverage. After 4 years of being the only network offering iPhones now the market is changing. The new big iPhone player is Verizon which just began selling iPhones.

As always there are some reasons for and against changing networks. First of all if you take a look at the map of coverage of both networks you will see that in fact both networks have similar areas of coverage. What is different is that AT&T has additional heavy download related congestions since it has accumulated many iPhone users which are usually bandwidth demanding. This causes high rate of call dropping. But our point is how long before Verizone network begins having same issue? And AT&T is increasing its network and improving its infrastructure which is indicating by their decision to increase their infrastructure related investments to more than 10% during last year.

Which network is faster?

Some researches are indicating that AT&T still rules the market as the one with the speediest network. Some users have reported speeds of more than 5 mbps which is almost three times more than Verizon could provide currently.

Prices and plans:

Voice

According to pricing details the pricing is almost same for voice and SMS plans on both networks. While Verizon has a family plan with more minutes, the AT&T plan is cheaper for almost $20 per package.

Data

Verizon has promised that it will have unlimited data plan for only $30

AT&T on other side has some restrictions on their data plans.

Cheapest plan is $15 which will give you only a limited amount of 200MB. According to AT&T this will be sufficient for 60% of their iPhone users. If you overstep this bandwidth you will have to pay $15 for additional 200MB of data download.

Next plan is $25 monthly and it offers you 2GB of download monthly which is according to AT&T enough for the mere 2% of smartphone users. You will have to pay additional $10 for the next 1 GB downloaded.

Compared to this Verizon’s offer sounds much more interesting and will probably be one of their main sales pitches to lure users over to their network.

iPhone differences?

While having almost same hardware capabilities one main difference between Verizons CDMA and AT&T GSM iPhones is that on CDMA network it is impossible to use data and voice at the same time. This could be a mayor obstacle since on GSM users have being used to web surfing and talking at the same time.

It would be best to decide on personal level what is best. You should check the level of network coverage by both networks. If you want to quit the AT&T you will also have to pay the contract termination fees.

So is it cost effective? You will need to choose for yourself.

Let us know about your choice in our comments section.

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