I put down Alcatel so Verizon wouldn't get credit. But I use Illinois Valley Cellular, (IVC - IV Cellular) in Fairbury... and the comment from the Verizon guy, "they only have a 7 or 8 county coverage area. " Is completely FALSE. IV Cellular offers Nationwide UNLIMITED 3G coverage. I recently picked up a Motorola Milestone X2 from the Fairbury Radio Shack and have been flying with data and making crystal clear voice calls... and spending less money than I would have with Verizon.

We use Illinois Valley Cellular. I only selected Verizon Wireless so it would let me submit this. We've had IVC for about 20 years now (back then you had a "bag phone", something like a house phone plugged into the cigarette lighter). Chenoa is the only dead area we have noticed. The reception is not perfect everywhere, but we have very few complaints. We've made calls from N. Carolina and Florida with no problems at all.

Verizon recently put up a tower 1 mile east of Fairbury. If you live in Fairbury or spend any amount of time there, Verizon will be your best choice, followed by IVC (Illinois Valley Cellular). IVC also has a tower in Fairbury (one mile south west of town) -- Myself personally, I would not buy from IVC, I have heard too many nightmares. Plus they only have a 7 or 8 county coverage area. Verizon is your best bet. They have the most blanket coverage in the USA of any wireless provider.

Almost all of area is a dead zone.

Reception is intermittent. Sometimes I have a good signal, sometimes none at all. Also will have dropped calls intermittently. I have the same problem in Bloomington, where reception is on Verizon Network.