What's the real deal?

So, what's the real deal between Sprint and AT&T? Both are all over the t.v. with " most coverage " commercials but both can't be right.. does anyone have a clue?  Cuz I sure don't and since both "overlap" my area, when my current contract comes up next month, I could pick and choose.

Check the maps. Verizon has the best coverage in US. ATT is second and sprint third I believe. Coverage doesnt mean 3G. Verizon wins there also. But unless you are going with a smartphone, you cant add third party apps to verizon phones. They run brew instead of java on their phones. So jar files do not work.  Sprint may be the same way.

Yeah well Verizon is the best at the moment. Their map is true. If you check ATT their map is correct also. But look at their 3G map. It is only centered around cities. Yes ATT has service in most areas but just not 3G service. Casie Kelso really works the words in his commercials. He also claims ATT's downloads are faster than verizon. In theory yes but in actual then no. ATT is capable of greater speeds but in fact speeds have been found greater with verizon.

Sprint I havent checked into too much. But their map is no where close to either att or verizon. Their coverage looks likes att's 3G coverage alone. Just make sure when you look at the map you know what you are looking at. There is a big difference than having service in an area and having 3G service in an area.  If you wont be getting a data plan then the issue isnt there.  Also if you arent traveling you only need coverage for the area you are going to be in.

Hate to say but verizon has the US covered. Thats just the way it is. If you want some form of 3G everywhere then look to verizon. And I hate to say but the map in the verizon commercial for Verizon and ATT is correct. But both have equal coverage, just not in the highspeed data category. And then there is T-mobile. Their map isn't worth putting in a commercial. 3G for t-mobile is basically non existing except for MAJOR cities. Sprint is not too bad.

Take a look at the maps.


Verizon 3G in red


ATT 3G in dark blue


cricket 3G in dark pink


sprint 3G in orange


T-mobile 3G in green (pathetic)

These are supposedly updated 2010 maps. So who wants to go to T-mobile?  As you can see the coverage for ATT and Verizon is very comparable. It has also been reported that ATT's edge speed is sometimes faster than Verizon's 3G coverage. Now one more bad point about verizon and sprint. They are CDMA. No sim cards. Accounts are worthless if traveling abroad. So if you plan on visiting europe or asia you win with ATT.