Good service in Ely on this 3G phone -- but of course no 3G features in this area yet. No more flagrant power drain on the digital phones up here, it seems. I can now go two or three days without a recharge, instead of half a day. Service reaches well to the southeast on Hwy. 1, but I have not yet had a chance to try it in the Boundary Waters. Only weakness so far is service becomes intermittent on Hwy. 1 around the halfway point between the Ely and Isabella towers. Probably should consider a Motorola or Nokia if you need continuous service on the remote parts of the highway.

Good digital reception in Ely, and out to a radius of about eight to ten miles in most directions. Beyond that point, you need to be on high ground. Surprisingly high power drain on the Samsung phone even when there was good signal -- strength seems to fluctuate quite a bit (less of a problem on the Kyocera 2035 phone I had before). Only one tower for the area (500 feet tall) and I suspect it gets very overloaded on summer nights.