AT&T vs Verizon: Comparison of Top Wireless Service Providers

Two of the largest wireless communication providers in the United States are AT&T and Verizon. Sources say that 70% of the wireless market has been dominated by both service providers. This is a fact even when facing strong competition from Sprint and T-Mobile. So, people may be wondering which one should be a better investment option. Here are a few comparative results on both companies in order to help you make better decision.

Better Option for Devices

With all 4 major carriers ridded of 2-year contracts, it has come down to just 2 of the leading service providers. With Verizon, a 24-month financing plan is offered for consumers with good credit standing. With AT&T, the same price of the phone will be offered to customers buying upfront. However, they are offered at a wide array of choices depending on what the customer selects. They will allow customers to turn in their units for newer models based on the name of each plan. The more preferable option at this point is Verizon’s plan because it offers pricing to customers up front without any activation fees. Thus, it doesn’t confuse or attempt to pull one over customers.

Service Plan Pricing

If you have purchased your phone up front, you will get different plan pricing for subsidized phones. But for Verizon and AT&T, they both charge the same price regardless if you purchase or finance your phone. With Verizon, unlimited texts and calls are offered on all its plans, and charges for line-access fee. With AT&T, several plans are offered with different device-access charge depending on the amount of data to buy. The 1GB plan of Verizon would cost $50 or 3GB at $65, while AT&T offers 300MB at $45 or 2GB for $55. This makes AT&T a better choice for its cheaper option of 2GB at $55.

Unlimited Plans

For Verizon, it has a couple of new plans namely “Go Unlimited” and “Beyond Unlimited”. The Go Unlimited plan would start at $75 per month, while the Beyond Unlimited plan would start at $85 per month.

AT&T has 2 unlimited plans, as well, namely the “Unlimited Plus” and the “Unlimited Choice”. The Unlimited Plus is offered at $90 per month for one line, while $60 a month is offered for the Unlimited Choice for one line.

How Much LTE You Can Get

With the Go Unlimited plan, Verizon subscribers are given unlimited mobile-hotspot data but not as fast as LTE speeds. It is capped at 600Kbps, which is closer to 3G level quality. The Beyond Unlimited plan, however, would give you up to 15GB of genuine LTE mobile-hotspot data per month. But you would be bumped down to a slower 600Kbps if you exceed that limit.

AT&T, on the other hand, provides slower connections in areas of congestion when over 22GB of LTE data is used in one month. With the Unlimited Choice plan, however, is capped at 3Mbps of LTE connection. This might be considered far too slow for a true LTE, which should be made a non-starter plan instead.