which carrier?
 

Traveling 10months out of a year I'm currently with tmo on their intl BB plan. But with the recent changes to their intl email plan and data usage, its making my rethink switching service.
Any ideas?

There are 4 of us on the family plan
father uses a little bit of data but lots of calling to mainly a few phone numbers and same mobile operator (wife)
wife same as father
brother uses a BB but wants to get the iphone
I dont care but i need to get email all the time and some data and I roam all the time. No calls though as I use skype or something similar

I think ATT has a good data package for small business - 60 or 65/month for the iphone with unlimited data, but how about the other companies?
Any recommendations

The ATT unlimited data is not for international for iPhone. I've have ATT with the unlimited blackberry plan. It's expensive, but is flat rate. I believe there is a 1yr commit for it.

If the iPhone is a must have, ATT is your only option.

The Google/Android phones on Verizon are pretty slick. The Verizon has a pretty unlimited BB INTL plan as well, but I'm not too sure on the pricing.

Verizon BlackBerry Storm 2 user here. Pretty happy with the device and call quality.

International data is $64.99 for unlimited. International calling to most (but not all) countries is a flat $4.99 fee and 99 cents a minute (without the $4.99 that 99 cents is 1.49).

Unlimited data plan domestic with VZW on BB is $24.99 is you're not BES user.

International with Verizon is based on getting a Global phone, such as BlackBerry Storm 2 (Motorola Droid is NOT a global phone).

If you go with Verizon, there are only a few choices for a global phone, Storm 2 and BlackBerry Tour and another one....forget which other one it is.

Personally, I'm staying away from AT&T...coverage was very suspect with me when I had them.

Side notes: If you want to hold out, the Google Nexus phone is supposed to be on T-Mo's network (but sold by Google). No exact ETA, but scuttlebutt is that private invitations to purchase the phone might be out around January 5th.

Also, there are a LOT of other phones to look for. HTC is a company to watch.....got to play with their HD2 in Europe a month ago...VERY impressive.

There is an ATT international iPhone plan for $64.99 a month which is unlimited for most countries. A few countries are excluded and you need to spend one day a month in the U.S.

The catch is that it is limited to large corporate accounts. I don't believe that a small business account would qualify.

They may be slick but they won't work in most countries.

There are rumors that it may be coming to Tmobile in the US too. Not sure about that, because I imagine they'd need a radio update to work on the tmobile 3G network.

Quick background: I have been in/out of the mobile phone industry for the past few years and have had service contracts with all the big three.

As far as nationwide CALL coverage (baring small cowpoke towns):

#1 - Verizon
#2 - AT&T
#3 - Sprint
#4 - TMobile

As far as nationwide INTERNET 3G coverage:

#1 - Verizon
#2 - AT&T
#3 - Sprint
#4 - TMobile

Note: the reason AT&T experiences problems in NYC, SF, and Chicago is because of bandwidth issues due to some many folks owning an iPhone. They expect to have this fully ironed out by late 2010. By that time, and also early 2011 AT&T and Sprint will have released their LTE/WiMax/4G/What-have-you coverage and all of them will be pretty good.

As far as TYPE OF PHONE:

#1 - AT&T offers the most flexibility
#2 - TMobile
#2 - Verizon
#3 - Sprint

AT&T and TMobile use SIM cards and thus you can buy any "unlocked" phone and use it on their network. Also, you can take the phone internationally and buy a local SIM card which is usually much cheaper that using your SIM card. It's a bit more difficult with Verizon and Sprint since they do not use SIM cards.

So...in my opinion, regardless of the iPhone, if you're a current AT&T subscriber stick with AT&T as they are working very hard to expand their network bandwidth. If you are wanting to switch from Sprint / Verizon, I'd wait a year. But, no matter who you use, all of the big three (and T-mobile) will get much improvement in call coverage, broadband speeds, and phone/hardware choices over the next 12 to 18 months.