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  • Okay, just ran the specs on their web page. I picked a 75 GB data plan. . Unlimited calls and text. Samsung S4. Total cost per month not including taxes $600.00! $580 just for the data. I would hate to own stock in this company.

  • I guess the idea is to loose customers. I guess Big Pinky [T-Mobile] is about to get another influx of new meat.

  • Some absurd prices there. Guess they don’t plan on having customers. I sure as heck won’t be considering it anytime soon! If these smaller companies expect to compete against the big boys, they will be expected to offer better deals at lower prices. Not gonna happen at this pricing level…..

    • EVERYTHING is so frigging pricey in the US! Tired of paying out the nose for everything…..can’t get away from it unless you want to live in a hole in the ground. It’s ridiculous!

  • US Cellular: $70/4GB/unlimited talk and text
    AIO Wireless: $70/7GB/unlimited talk and text

    AT&T’s service isn’t exactly terrible in my neck of the woods. I can’t think of anything compelling about USC.

    • AIO is so awesome. I wish AT&T didn’t have a deadzone right in the middle of my office or I’d still be playing the prepaid game with a Nexus 4.

  • Why would I go with US celluar when these prices are identical to Verizon? If that is the case I would stick with verizon. Anyway do you notice that the wireless industry as a whole, prices are very high comparing to about 5-10 years ago. We are heading in the wrong direction. Currently I have a verizon shared family plan 1400 minutes with unlimited data and I am holding on to it until verizon take it away. After, I will have no other choice but to go with T-mobile or Sprint.

    • Are we heading in the wrong direction, though? 10 years ago, data over a mobile network was slower than dial-up. Nowadays, mobile data is faster than a lot of people’s home broadband Internet. The devices we have now were nothing but wet dreams 10 years ago. With the increased infrastructure needed to support that, plus the demands of Americans to have coverage everywhere we live and work with decent data speeds to boot, it’s really not shocking that we’re paying considerably more. Running a big cellular network isn’t cheap, my friend!

      • It’s illogical to assume these companies aren’t nickel & diming customers all in the name of maintaining support. These are corporations that are only concerned with the bottom line/profits.

        • Of course. I’m not saying they’re not making money hand over fist. Of course they are. Only a fool would argue otherwise. But, in US wireless service, you get what you pay for. That’s all I’m saying.

      • Right – it always baffles me when people compare our wireless prices to those of European countries. Folks, the state of Texas alone is significantly larger than the UK. Their carriers need a tiny fraction of the infrastructure that US carriers require. It’s not really a fair comparison.

        That’s not to say we’re not being ripped off, but it’s not 99.9999% profit like some would have you believe.

  • People do realize that US Cellular and Verizon are the same company right? US Cellular is the “regional provider” which I’m pretty sure means they get the crap places with lower overhead cost.

    This basically make Verizon not look like a monopoly and keeps the government out of their hair. This is similar to when the government forced the oil companies to split way back when; Verizon is just doing it on their terms instead of what the government may have come up with.

    • Ok for the last time they arent the same company. In fact once you leave a US Cellular area and start roaming the service turns horrible. I have friends on US Cell and I have Verizon and when we were both in the same area in Memphis I had full coverage and he had little to none.

  • This is just Phase one of their Three-phase “Not-Your-Carrier”™ plan, guys…

    1) Raise the prices through the roof.

    2) Contract you to one device per decade, no upgrades. (This adds $40 to your bill)

    3) No home network. All network coverage is roaming at $3.99 per minute – no data.

    Part one is so far, a roaring success, guys! We’ve already had *tons* of folks choose us to be “Not-Your-Carrier”™! Phase two will knock it out of the park and by phase 3, I personally guarantee, everyone, even our Employees and Executives will have chosen us as “Not -Your-Carrier”™!

  • This is pretty insane. I think Verizon is ridiculous for charging such outrageous prices, but at least they can claim one of the largest and most reliable networks in the U.S. I’d guess that they’re probably one of the highest quality carriers in the world (in terms of service, not price).

    Then, you have U.S. Cellular. Their service and coverage is terrible in comparison to pretty much everyone else. I’m not sure I can think of a single reason why someone would now choose them over any other carrier.

    T-Mobile and Sprint both offer better pricing and better service. This is so very strange.

    I’ll go ahead and predict a reversal of this pricing within the next 12 months, as they start shedding new subscriber numbers.

    • They have already been shedding subscribers. A few years back USC had the highest customer satisfaction ratings of any cellular company (at least according to some report I was shown at the time). Since then they tried growing into markets where the big carriers already existed and they failed. Since then they’ve backed off to something closer to their original territory where they still have old loyal customers and went on a price gouging spree. Looking in from the outside they appear to be flailing around without any clue how to return to the high profits of old and are setting themselves up to eventually be bought out by Sprint (who already bought some of their territory).

  • YESSSS!!!!! 50 bucks for a whole gig!!! Just what I always wanted! Guess who’s switching to US Cellular?!!!

  • “Eff you, Verizon! When my contract ends, I’m flipping you the bird and going to US CELLULAR!” — Nobody, ever.

    • Right?! These are the exact same prices Verizon charges, and for way better coverage. US Cellular’s management team has clearly smoked a bone too many.

      • It’s because they practically are Verizon. They have practically the same plans, same phones, they use the same towers. I don’t think you’d have to dig too deep to find Verizon intermingled in

        • Which is ironic because I think (but I could be wrong) that if you’re anywhere outside of US Cellular’s few “home” coverage areas scattered throughout the US, you’re almost always roaming on Sprint, not Verizon. haha

      • This does not make me want to buy into their network, but does make me want to buy what they are smoking!

  • Saw a map that represented the cost of mobile data around the world. Just look at that and you can see how bad off we have it across the board.

    • You can’t compare the United States to any other country on Earth. The sheer amount of coverage a “nationwide” carrier has to provide without any kind of government subsidy is like nowhere else on the planet. You have other countries that are comparable to the USA size-wise, places like India, China, Australia and Russia, but most of those countries are full of enormous areas where there’s no cell service. There are very few places in the United States outside of Alaska where one could travel even 100 miles with no cell service. We pay the highest prices for cell coverage because we have cellular networks here that the rest of the world would cream their pants over when it comes to coverage. That comes at a premium price, my friend.

      • Agree with the exception of we also do not know how concentrated people are in the areas that arent covered. Korea itself is pretty covered and they pay a lot less than we do for mobile as well as standard internet and get more than we do.

        • Korea also isn’t anywhere near as big as the US is. It’s easier and cheaper to cover a smaller area. Plus, how are the data speeds throughout the coverage area? Verizon and (soon) AT&T have LTE in places where there are more cows than people and places where people probably can’t even spell Internet.

      • Yes, and that’s why small regional carries like US Cellular can offer you a much lower prices than nationwide carriers. Oh, wait…

  • Shared data is the future. A dark, dreary, data-capped, expensive future. US carriers are like lemmings.

    • I don’t know…I don’t mind my AT&T MobileShare plan. $160 for 10 GB shared between my phone and my tablet. AT&T has great coverage just about everywhere I travel so I don’t mind paying it. It’s a lot cheaper than it would have been on the old style plans to get unlimited talk/text on the phone + two 5 GB data plans (one for each device).

      • I’m glad that it works for you. But I’m paying $80 on VZW with unlimited data, and if I want to share that with another device I just tether. It may work in your situtation but I wouldn’t call it progress.

        • Yeah prices always rise, though. You’ve probably been with Verizon for years to get it that cheap. That’s awesome. One day, though, they’re going to force everyone out of unlimited data and when they do, that’s going to suck.

          • “that’s going to suck”, exactly, which is why I’m saying things aren’t getting better. Now that the carriers have built a dependence on fast ever-available data, they’re cashing in on it. Over a $150 for two devices, only one of which constantly needs a connection other than wifi, is not a good deal.

          • My issue with tethering is twofold:

            1. While I can technically tether to my phone, I always forget about it. I’ll turn on tethering, then throw my phone in my pocket. Three hours later I’ll check on my phone only to find that 50% of my battery has disappeared.
            2. By tethering, I’m still using the data, so I’d still need a 10GB data plan. My tablet goes everywhere with me. So, if I need a 10 GB plan regardless, it’s worth it to me to pay the $10/mo to have the tablet on my cell account with its own SIM card so I can be connected wherever I want without having to worry about another device to enable the connection. $10 is a convenience fee, really. I’m fine with it.

          • Your case works compared to other shared plans, but falls apart when compared to the unlimited plans every carrier is taking away (aside from the battery argument). I’m not harping on you cause I understand you gotta do what you gotta do and rationalize it how you need to. But, in no way are you better off financially now, than you would have been if you were on an unlimited plan. That’s the problem.

          • No argument from me there, dude. If I could have unlimited data through VZW for $80 a month, I’d be all over that like Adele on a box of Twinkies.

  • They had a real chance to undercut the pricing of Verizon and AT&T. They chose not to do that, and that’s a real shame. These data costs are completely ridiculous.

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