ATT Wireless had a steady, successful business on its own, and then joined with Cingular in 2004 to become even more powerful. Customers with AT&T Wireless phones found that their plans got even better: Cingular offers “rollover” minutes, meaning if you don't use all your AT&T Wireless phone minutes one month, they carry over into the next month.

Also, when Cingular and AT and T Wireless combined, it combined their coverage areas, too. Between them, nearly the entire country is covered by Cingular or AT&T Wireless mobile service. (AT&T Wireless plans ought to be good: The company has been in the telephone business for more than 120 years!)

What kind of plans does ATT Wireless offer? There are individual plans and family plans, each designed to match your particular AT and T Wireless phone needs. One popular option is FamilyTalk, where all the members on the plan can talk to each other for free. Say you, your spouse, and your child all have AT T Wireless phones. Now you can call each other as often as you like without using up your minutes. (And those leftover minutes roll over into the next month, too!)

Text messaging has become very common, too, particularly among teenagers. ATT Wireless offers many plans that include text messaging, often with rates as low as 1 cent per message. Text messaging is especially useful when you want privacy, or when talking on your ATT Wireless mobile phone is not feasible.

What if you already have a cell phone through another provider and want to switch, but don't want to change your phone number? Luckily, it's now possible in most cases to bring your old cell phone number with you when you join ATT Wireless. For years, cell phone providers “owned” certain numbers, but no more. The courts put an end to that practice in 2003, and now customers can usually switch from one service to another without having to get a new phone number. This keeps competition high, because companies no longer “own” their customers' phone numbers and thus could lose them to other providers.

ATT Wireless and Cingular work hard to ensure their customers' satisfaction so they won't move to a different company. And when people are fed up with other plans, they can come to AT&T and Cingular to see what they have to offer.

Don't have a cell phone yet? You're not alone, though the number is decreasing. AT&T Wireless and Cingular can walk you through the process if you're unsure what kind of plan and phone you need. There's no time like the present to become part of the future!