Alltel has been wonderful here. I get 5 bar reception in "downtown" Albany, in my house, and even in the basement of the building I work in at Ohio University! My only gripe is that Alltel only supports CDMA - the phone I want (Samsung G-600) doesn't work on Alltel! :-(

In Albany, T-Mobile is only good until about the Marathon station, in-town is practically non-existent. Cingular picks up about 1 bar through downtown Albany and if you walk into a building, you will lose service. Once out of Albany, Cingular is very good clear through to McArthur - with the exception of a small dead spot in Prattsville. Service on Union Ridge is EXCELLENT (All bars). Between Albany and Jackson, Cingular is good except for a stretch between Rt. 160 and near Rumpke. Cingular also has service from Wellston to McArthur, trailing with 1 bar from the end of Wellston through Hamden, until Rt. 683 where more bars come in. Cingular will also be good from Athens to Marietta. Service all the way. T-Mobile kicks out at the BMW Motorcycle building on the left. T-Mobile in Athens is EXCELLENT. As well as The Plains, Nelsonville, Chauncey, and up Rt. 33 between Athens and Columbus - NO DEAD SPOTS. There is a T-Mobile tower right by Dee's Diner on Rt. 33 and Laurel Run, therefore service is full and Haydenville has full service. Cingular lacks on Rt. 33 between Nelsonville and Haydenville. T-Mobile also great service in Chillicothe, Circleville, and clear up to Columbus on Rt. 23. Going up I-77, there is a 20-mile stretch from about 10 miles out of Marietta to the Rest Area that has no service, after the Rest Area is where T-Mobile kicks in and has EXCELLENT service all the way to Akron. I-70, I-71, I-270, and I-76 are also excellent areas for T-Mobile. In Ironton and Ashland, KY, T-Mobile will roam off of West Virginia Wireless (WVW) and service is good. On I-64, it will roam off of Cingular outside of Ashland, but has a 20-mile stretch of no service until T-Mobile itself kicks back in and has service the rest the way to Lexington and on down I-75 towards Tennessee. I am very happy with T-Mobile. They have EXCELLENT prices, EXCELLENT service, and WONDERFUL friendly customer service. I will be upgrading from my current base model Nokia 6010 to a Nokia 3220 camera phone and the 1500 ANYTIME + Unlimited N / W for $49.99. Cingular is TOO PRICEY and not the friendliest customer service. I also notice Cingular towers dropping more calls than T-Mobile does. I never have had a dropped call out of the blue with T-Mobile. I also like that T-Mobile will roam off of Cingular where I need it. I RECOMMEND!