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Yesterday, we discussed the Verizon acquisition of Rural Cellular Corp.. In the final paragraph, I noted that it is unfortunate to lose another regional carrier, as they bring more choices to consumers. We don’t spend a lot of time with regional carriers here, though I think it’s high time we started. Today, we’re going to talk about four regional providers: Cincinnati Bell, Centennial Wireless, Cellular South, and Cellcom.

For a look at some other regional carriers, you can take a gander at US Cellular, which we review at this site, and at MetroPCS and Cricket Wireless, which we cover at our sister site, Prepaid Reviews.

Cellular South

Cellular South covers an area comprising about five million people, mostly in Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee, Mississippi, coastal Alabama, and the Florida panhandle. They were founded all the way back in 1988; and yes, they did provide cell service back then, too.

Plans

Cellular South tries to keep matters in order by offering plans which offer different options for primary area and nationwide area calling. In this case, nationwide area calling refers to roaming. It starts off at $29.99 per month, giving you 700 anytime minutes in the primary roaming area, plus unlimited mobile to mobile. Outside the primary calling area, minutes cost 29 cents each. This ranges all the way up to the $99.99 per month plan, which is totally unlimited, including text messaging. They also offer data plans, including for BlackBerry.

To help clear up matters, since there are so many plans covering so many bases, Cellular South has a Web page which can help you along. Choose from among their family or individual plans, and figure out what works best for you.

Phones

The handset selection at Cellular South can be quite quirky. They have the high-end data-intensive phones, like the BlackBerry Curve and the HTC Touch. But then it delves all the way down into the free selection, offering about five phones for nothing. That is, once you sign a two-year contract.

You’ll also catch a decent selection of Motorola phones, including the ROKR, the RAZR, and the RAZR2. Sorry, there is no KRZR.

Centennial Wireless

It seems that most regional carriers in the U.S. work off a CDMA network. Not Centennial Wireless, though. They’ve got their GSM on, covering Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. They’ve recently been quoted as having 1.1 million subscribers in those areas.

Plans

Oh yes, Centennial Wireless offers unlimited incoming calls and text messages. This is a trend we all hope will catch on with the major carriers, but none of us are holding our breaths. This, of course, only covers their Blue Nation Network area, which means non-roaming. They also come with unlimited nights and weekends — though they start at 10 p.m. instead of the standard 9. The good news is that for just $5 per months, you can knock that back to 5 p.m. In other words, it would be foolish to not do that.

The individual plans range from 400 minutes for $39.99 per month to 1,800 minutes for $99.99 per month. But with unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited nights and weekends (at 5 p.m.!) and free incoming calls, most people could probably work with just the 400-minute plan.

They also offer BlackBerry plans, including pricing for data-only services. It’s just $40 per month for data-only Blackberry service, so that’s one good option if you have no need for voice minutes.

Phones

Looking at Centennial’s phones page is like browsing through a retail phone store. Nothing is free, unfortunately, but you can start at the bottom with teh Sony ericsson Z310a, which features a VGA camera and Bluetooth, for just $9.99 when you sign your contract.

If your tastes are a bit more expensive, you can check the Nokia 5310 for $189.99, or the HTC S621 for $249.99. Since this is a GSM carrier, they do have a larger selection of phones than many CDMA providers, including a number of models from Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

Cincinnati Bell Wireless

Add Cincy Bell to the list of regional GSM providers. They cover southeastern Indiana, southwestern Ohio, and northwestern Kentucky. They were actually once partly owned by AT&T Wireless, though Cincinnati Bell bought back the shares in 2006, in exchange for, beyond the $83 million, a favorable roaming agreement with what was then Cingular. At the end of 2007, they were said to have 571,000 subscribers.

Plans

Cincinnati Bell Wireless has certainly jumped on the unlimited bandwagon. They’ve got the $99 fever, though along with unlimited voice minutes, they’ve got unlimited text messaging and Web browsing. Woo hoo!

If that’s not your bag, you can start all the way down at their $29.99 plan, offering 200 anytime minutes and 1,000 night and weekend minutes. Unlimited text and data on any plan is an additional $14.99 per month, a pretty reasonable price. And yes, nationwide roaming is included with their plans, so you won’t have to worry about going off-network and incurring ridiculous charges.

In addition, they have a number of media options, including 500 text messages for $4.99 per month. Yes, they have BlacKBerry plans, too, as well as a slew of family plan options.

Phones

Cincy Bell has a decent selection, though not as comprehensive as Centennial. Atop the list sits the Motorola RAZR 2 for $249.99. They also offer a number of BlackBerry models, including the Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerry Pearl. Yet with over half of their selection at $49.99 or under, you surely can find a good deal.

One in particular I found cool is the Nokia 6086, which has Wi-Fi. It might not seem that cool for a non-smartphone. But it’s still a killer feature on a phone that costs just $50.

These prices include discounts for instant savings, Web-only savings, and sometimes a mail-in rebate. On yeah, and you’ll avoid the activation fee if you purchase the phone online. Just one more reason to not leave the house, I suppose.

Cellcom

Since 1987, Cellcom has been offering wireless services to residents of Wisconsin. There’s not a ton of info out on the company, so we can cut this and move right on to their plans.

Plans

A neat tool offered by Cellcom is their plan survey. Here you answer just a few questions about what kind of plan you’re looking for and your cellular habits. once you get this done, it will recommend which of its plans will fit you best.

Cellcom does offer an unlimited plan, and yes it is for $99.99. It covers only voice, though, so you’ll have to pick an add-on for text and data services.

If you’re a traveler, Cellcom can hook you up. They’ve got a number of nationwide plans, ranging from $29.95 per month for 200 anytime minutes and 500 night and weekend minutes, all the way up to $199.95 per month for a whopping 6,000 anytime minutes and unlimited nights and weekends.

If you’re a homebody, Cellcom offers MobileTies plans, which give you a bundle of anytime, night and weekend, and mobile to mobile minutes. To compare $29.95 plans, the MobileTies version gives you 300 anytime minutes, 3,000 night and weekend minutes, plus 50 mobile to mobile minutes. Long distance isn’t included in this one, though, and costs 9 cents per minute. Jump up to the $39.99 plan, though, and nights and weekends are unlimited, as are mobile to mobile minutes.

As mentioned, you can add a number of services to your plan, including text and picture messaging, voicemail, and Web access.

Phones

Cellcom works on CDMA, so their selection of handsets is a bit more limited than the GSM carriers we’ve listed. They aren’t too expensive, though, if you’re looking for a normal handset. For example, you can nab the Kyocera Lingo for $89.95, or the Motorola W385 for $59.95. They do have the RAZR 2, of course, and for the price of $249.95. I guess that thing is selling well, because nearly every carrier, major or regional, is carrying it.

They also have the CDMA line of smartphones, including the BlackBerry 8830 and Pearl, plus the Palm Treo 700wx. These, clearly, are more expensive — the Palm coming in at $489.95.

So, are there any other regional carriers you’d like to see covered in this space? If so, drop me a line, jpawlikowski at goingcellular, or let us know in the comments.

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