U.S. Cellular is the fifth largest cellular phone service provider in the United States. Their primary focus is on their postpaid service; nonetheless, the company offers a selection of prepaid options that will be appealing to many consumers. Unfortunately, like MetroPCS, the company’s coverage footprint is regional so the practical applicability of this service is limited. Based in Chicago, the Midwest has the broadest area of coverage. There are also coverage areas in northern New England, the mid-Atlantic and Pacific Northwest. If traveling elsewhere, you’d be subjected to a very pricey $.69 per minute roaming charge.

For those who are geographically able to avail themselves of U.S. Cellular’s services, there are three monthly pricing plans. The lowest monthly price is $45 which allows for 350 anytime minutes of calling, equating to about $.129 a minute. With this plan, airtime in excess of 350 minutes cost $.15 per minute. The middle plan is $60 for 600 minutes ($.10/minute) and the top tier runs $80 for 1,000 minutes ($.08/minute). Excess airtime on these two plans is $.10 a minute. Nights, beginning at 9:00 PM are free on all three plans as are weekends on the two highest programs. An unusual benefit of U.S. Cellular service is that all incoming calls are free.

Outgoing messages, both text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) cost $.25 each but incoming messages are free. There are also text messaging packages that offer 250 messages for $4.95 monthly, 750 messages for $9.95 or unlimited for $14.95. 411 directory assistance calls are $1.50 each.

U.S. Cellular offers two usage based plans. The first costs $6 per month and all used minutes are $.15 each. For $10 monthly the charge drops to $.10 per minute. Text messaging is available on the same basis as offered on the monthly plans.

To see how U.S. Cellular stacks up against our top rated prepaid cell phone providers, please refer to our reviews of Boost Mobile, Cricket and Virgin Mobile.