[DRNewcomb]

One thing to keep in mind is that even though the major netowrks now have "nationwide" footprints, because of the way that wireless licenses are awarded in the US, the carriers still rely on domestic roaming to augment their coverage. You will find areas where both T-Mobile and Cingular roam on carriers like Western Wireless, NPI, Elkhorn, High Plains, etc. to fill out their coverage. This is mostly in very rural areas. But unless the small carrier is tightly integrated (shares the switch) with the larger carrier, prepaids will probably not roam. The US carriers have not worked very hard on prepaid roaming, even domestic roaming.