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Straight Talk, a no-contract service that offers two of the cheapest cell phone plans currently available, announced this week that they have expanded their service to include the AT&T network.  Previously, Straight Talk was exclusively running across the Verizon Wireless network.   This change will expand the number of locations where Straight Talk is available, as there some locations not yet covered by Verizon.

If both AT&T and Verizon are available where  you live, the network you use with Straight Talk will be dependent on the phone you choose.   AT&T works on GSM technology, while Verizon uses CDMA, and the technology is not compatible.

How to Choose a Network

If you live in an area served by both carriers, the Straight Talk website will offer you phones from both carriers. However, if  you know Verizon (or AT&T) has better coverage where you live, you will probably want to get a phone that works on the better network.

While not explicitly providing this information on their website, Straight Talk has made it easy to tell.   Just look at the letter code at the end of the phone model.  If it is a “G”, it is a GSM phone and will work over AT&T; if a “C” it is a CDMA phone and will work over Verizon.   For example, the LG100C is a CDMA phone, while the LG620G is a GSM phone.

Straight Talk Plans

As mentioned earlier, Straight Talk has a couple very attractive rate plans, particularly if you are a fairly heavy voice user and also want to use text and data.   For $30 a month, you get 1,000 voice minutes, 1,000 text messages and 30mb. of data.  For $45/month, you get an unlimited allowance of all.  Both plans include calls to 411 at no extra cost.

To make sure Straight Talk is best for you, compare it to other prepaid and no contract cell phone plans.