Introduction
Choosing a cell phone carrier isn't easy. Should your choice come down to network coverage, or should you decide based on the selection of phones? Or perhaps the level of customer service is most important?

In a perfect world, coverage and price would be the most important determinants, but popular handsets like the iPhone give many people the only reason they need to switch.

At CNET, we spend plenty of time rating carrier cell phones and services, but rating the quality of nationwide coverage remains a challenge. While we can tell you if a carrier offers good coverage in our handset-testing locations--typically, San Francisco--we can't tell you how the carrier will perform across the United States. It's a big country, and to accurately say which carrier offers the best network, we'd have to make calls in thousands of locations across America.

The good news is that we're working on a solution to better rate carrier coverage on a nationwide basis. In the meantime, however, we can tell you everything you need to know about the carrier and the phones and services that they offer. Also, we'd like to continue to ask for your help in rating the carriers and sending your feedback.

Now, on to what you need to know about America's cell phone carriers. We've also provided links to each carrier's coverage map, though we would take such information with a grain of salt. For more information on buying a cell phone, check out CNET's Cell Phone Buying Guide.

More cell phone resources from CNET