We decided upon Cingular. My current provider. Oddly enough I was pulling for T-Mobile because I thought they gave us the best deal.
T-Mobile
700 minutes for 59.99 + 9.99 +9.99 = $80.00
Phones = FREE
Activation Fees = 35.00 * 4 = $140.00
Cingular
550 minutes with Rollover for 59.99 + 9.99 +9.99 = $80.00
Phones = 40.00 * 4 = $160.00
Activation Fees = 36.00 + (18.00 * 3) = $90.00
HOWEVER there was one thing that swayed me to Cingular.
Having used Cingular for years, I know from experience their reception is great. T-Mobile’s coverage map looks lacking. This is something that worries my father. I’ve been told that T-Mobile’s service is fine and I shouldn’t worry about it but if we get T-Mobile and my father finds he can’t get service, my ass is grass. CINGULAR IT IS!
And ultimately, other than the upfront payment of 250.00 Vs 80.00, the monthly amount is the same.

If funny because Cingular is owned by a foreign country….
Anyways good luck
-bix
Cingular is, or was last time I looked, a 60/40 joint venture between AT&T (formerly SBC) and BellSouth.
On the other hand, T-Mobile is owned by Deutsche Telekom.