I was an AT&T Wireless customers for years. They had worse reception in New York than Verizon but significantly better global roaming agreements. Given that I spend most of the year on the road, international coverage is essential for me. AT&T also has somewhat faster LTE speeds than Verizon in the US so I could not complain.

However, despite maxing out on all international voice and data packages, my phone bill routinely exceeded $1,500 and was never below $1,000. Since I switched to T-Mobile, my bill has never exceeded $200 and is usually significantly cheaper than that.

T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plans cost $50-$70 depending on how much US data you need (500Mb for $50, 2.5Gb for $60, and unlimited for $70). You also get unlimited voice and texting in the US. More importantly on all those plans you get:

• Unlimited international text messages
• Unlimited international 2G data (typically Edge)
• Voice calls for $0.20 / minute while roaming internationally
• 500Mb of high speed data for 2 weeks for $50

This works in most countries around the world including India, Pakistan, all of Europe and the Dominican Republic. The only country I travel to that is not covered is The Bahamas.

If like me you find yourself in far-flung places T-Mobile is the way to go.