I'm the newby putting together BOBs for my grown kids and their families. I see communications as a very important aspect of the modern day BOB. All of us (eight of us total) have cell phones, all with different services.
Has anyone studied which phone service might be advantageous over another? Are there differences in the reliability and/or vulnerability of one service over another? And is there a type/manufacturer of the actual phone that is preferred? Again I thank you in advance for your helpful input.

Probably depends somewhat on where you live. I've read that Verizon is looking better than anyone else at the moment - IF they have their own cells in your area. Supposedly part of the corporate response to the damage they suffered in 9/11. No idea if that's true or not. Anyone know otherwise?

Cingular has pretty decent coverage right now, especially out west after they aquired AT&T Wireless (and their associated cell towers).

Without trying to sound like a TV commercial for them, so far I've had good luck with their service. They have "rollover" (keep your minutes) and "family plan" for multiple phones, not to mention free mobile-to-mobile minutes. Now customer service, that's a whole different animal... 'nuff said.

Also, I try to stay away from any phones with the built-in camera-FM radio-flashlight-music-player-latest-gadget. Had bad luck in the past; instead I try to go for the no frills base model. Nokia has been good to me, but I suspect that's just brand preference.

The older analog and digital cell phones were in the 900 MHz+ range. This signal carried better than the current GSM 1300 MHz+ range. Unfortunately those older setups have pretty much been done away with. Cingular is GSM, Sprint/Nextel is PCS, and Verizon... I have no idea. Out of all of those choices, a GSM phone will allow you to travel internationally and use it, as a lot of other countries utilize GSM technology.

And from what I hear, Sprint/Nextel has the option for newer phones to talk to each other without going through a cell tower, a la very short range two-way radio. This might be handy in an emergency.

As far as cell towers go, most, if not all, are on emergency power setups (generator, batteries, etc.). But in the wake of a major disaster will probably be rendered useless, if not by the disaster itself, then by the system becoming overloaded.

If you get a chance, check out CNET for cell phone reviews: www.cnet.com

Good luck!

Here's overview of latest J.D. Power ratings by region. Recent PC Magazine Reader Survey on cell phone providers; check out link at mid-page "Find Phone Reviews." Some free Consumer Reports info here. $4.95 gets you one month's access to full site and all their cell-related info.

DeadCellZones.com has some pretty decent information.

Yeah the rollover is good. I had gotten the nationwide 1000 anytime minutes thing for like $50 a month. I'm just not sure how I'm going to use my 7000 rollover minutes. (116 hours, 40 minutes). My battery will completely drain with probably 2 hours of talking, luckily I have a spare battery. I just don't think it charges in 2 hours.

Answering your question would be easier if we knew where you were located state wise. The reason I say this is that the J.D Power rankings leave out some carriers. For example, here in Oklahoma, US Cellular has the best regional coverage of any of the national carriers, yet the don't appear in the rankings.

My advice, look at coverage areas for the places you are going to be..who cares if they have excellent coast to coast coverage if you can't get a single unless you are within a mile of a major highway. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Verizon had an antena in WTC1 so after 911 they changed their network to be strategically placed instead of concentraded on one spot. Which means amazing coverage with decent signal strength. Verizon offers the best selection of phones and probably the best service here in NYC. But than again service choice is area specific and new guy didn't post where he lives <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />.

The only thing that worked in NYC on 911? AOL Instant Messenger Blackberry pagers.

Related subject: It's tempting to go shopping for a pre-paid or disposable celphone to leave in the car kit as a backup. Anyone have any insight as to the best models of phone for this? The ideal phone would be cheap, wouldn't need any special features beyond being able to make calls, and should have a long battery shelf-life when turned off.

I have verizon....all through Hurricane Charley and Wilma (and all of the hurricanes that were in each of those years too) we NEVER lost service. NEVER. Never dropped a call either. Had coworkers (in EMS) who could not get any service with multiple other providers.

I'm not changing anytime soon.

I heard that exact same thing face-to-face from folks this year and I've read it also - though it escapes me where I ran across those reports. That's the sort of thing I was alluding to in my first post, and that sort of performance is what matters, not who's hot day-to-day with the consumers.

Matt - are you sure they only lost an antenna? I thought their corporate HQ (including lots of the network stuff) was massively damaged by the collapses as well - seems to me I read about that, and the repairs, in ENR several times. And I thought I also read that after the last blackout, Verizon started beefing up the back-up power endurance at the cells.

I'm not 100% certain I remember this all accurately and hope that someone who has certain info can chime in. But AFAIK, Verizon is currently the best in terms of robustness in emergency situations by a considerable margin. They are not the cheapest or most chic, of course...

But if some other service provider gets the day-to-day job done for folks, that's important, too.

Tom