Monday, October 25, 2010

Smaller is Better

A few days ago we supported the notion that choosing a smaller phone was still a worthy pursuit. Today, we are convinced that the smaller carriers have even more advantages. Most people are surprised to find the broad phone selection and competitive pricing available from the smaller carriers, some serving less than a single state. It is so refreshing to talk to these companies on the phone because the person at the other end of the line usually gives you far more attention than those working in far-away call centers.

When you call the major carriers, you could be talking to someone thousands of miles away. With the small guys, you could easily be talking to a neighbor. Oh yes, a few of these smaller carriers also contract out their services, but when their service area is so limited, you are far more valuable to them than you are to the big companies.

Our closest example is Viaero Wireless. Companies like these are so involved with the local market, you're shooting yourself in the foot by not using them as your main carrier. Just down the road in Texas, there is a handful of local carriers that are more than willing and able to compete for your business. One of our favorites there, Cellular One of Texoma, has the right mix of plans, phones and customer service that makes those of us in larger cities envy what you can get down along the Red River.

Go ahead and use a GoPhone for your glove box phone, but we're still beating the drum for the smaller carriers. Include them among your choices, if you're lucky enough to have one. Some of us can only dream of a world with better carriers.

1 comment:

William said...

It's unimaginable that any of the smaller carriers in the US could be as poorly operated as Centennial Wireless was in my native Louisiana. Their representatives, in person and via telephone, were often neither friendly or knowledgeable, and as noted on this website, their plans are (were) difficult for anyone to understand. In many areas of Louisiana where At&t and Centennial were the only two providers with good coverage, a lot of Centennial customers were switching to At&t in the past couple of years, even in the wake of At&t's own network issues. For many customers here, Verizon's acquisition of At&t's divestions of Centennial is actually a benefit, as Verizon's representatives will likely be more knowledgeable and better to work with.

I wonder if Centennial's "Mid-Western" division was better managed and organized than their "Southern" branch; I would find it difficult to believe it could have been as poorly run.