YACPQ

April 18, 2009 3:14 PM

Yet another cell phone question!

In a few weeks my son will be returning to the USA after 9 months abroad. After a two week visit at home in Maryland he will be moving to Minneapolis and will in all likelihood be living there for the next two years. Who knows where he’ll be after that.

Prior to his move overseas I took him off our Verizon family plan, so his cell number in this country is ancient history.

He’d like to open his own Verizon account as soon as possible after coming home. We all like Verizon because of the massive coverage areas.

Is there any significant advantage or disadvantage to him getting his new phone and initiating his new Verizon account here in Maryland, prior to his ultimate move to Minneapolis? He'd like to do this to reestablish a number of personal connections and take care of some business as soon as possible.

His permanent address is still here in Maryland, but he’ll likely change that to his new Minneapolis address midsummer.

If it matters, he will have no land line phone in Minneapolis.

posted by imjustsaying to technology (5 answers total)

I know you say you all love Verizon for the coverage, but some quick snooping makes it look to me that AT&T has better 3G around there than Verizon has EVDO. As long as you're shopping so far ahead of time you may want to look more closely at the different carriers and the phones they offer (for example, if you wanted an iPhone, you'd need to use AT&T, or if you wanted an Android phone you'd need T-Mobile). Another thing to consider between GSM carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile) and CDMA carriers (Verizon, Sprint) is that if you break your GSM phone you can order a cheapie off eBay for $35 and pop your SIM card in, but with CDMA you'd have to pay your carrier full-price for a new phone configured for you.

All the carriers should be able to have a phone you order online at your house and ready within a week. I guess if you wanted to save him that week, you could go ahead and get that started before he returns. Do you want a Maryland or MN area code?
posted by floam at 3:26 PM on April 18, 2009

Other than the potential for people in Minneapolis to have to pay for a long-distance call based on your son's Maryland area code, I can't see why won't work. With most people having included long distance these days, even on land lines, it shouldn't be THAT much of a problem.

That said, there are two people in the area where I live that I don't dial often because they have out-of-area cell phones. But they are Slimy Business types who are keeping 4 cells active to hide dialing numbers or manipulate people, so there's more to it than just the area code.
posted by hippybear at 3:29 PM on April 18, 2009

Another prudent step would be to go through the different carriers spots where they let you check to see if you're eligible for any discounts due to an employer. Off-hand, I only know the web location for AT&T's. It's a little form you stick work email addresses in and it'll let you know if you qualify. I found out by surprise that I can get a 14% discount through my school, 24% discount through my mother's hospital, and my dad gets 20% from a company he works at. It's usually fine to just use a relatives email and take the discount. Obviously, I'm using my mothers discount.

It's going to tend to be the big instutitioney companies that have this available.
posted by floam at 3:31 PM on April 18, 2009

In my experience, the coverage by Verizon, AT&T and Sprint is all pretty comparable, mostly depending on where you're going. Urban areas are pretty easy regardless of carrier. More rural spots vary by location.

That said, I would let him choose his own service based on what service is available in the areas he will be living/traveling and what kind of phone he may want. Also, Verizon and AT&T both offer in-home internet and tv packages in certain areas, so bundling his service may save him some money as well.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 7:43 PM on April 18, 2009

I suggest that your son buy a disposable cell phone that he could use in MD and until he establishes what choice would work best for him in MN.
posted by carmicha at 6:19 AM on April 19, 2009