I hear ya. AT&T is always more expensive. In my opinion their network quality is superior to anything else out there. For years and years I avoided them due to their expense and my total lack of funds. I have used Sprint and T-Mobile and frankly found them both to be bad. Sprint wouldn't work internationally. You couldn't even replace the micro chip in their phones to use internationally. Although, I think this has been corrected now. However, the reception is still terrible with Sprint. I always had to be close to a window to get reception. Sprint rarely worked in a hotel room as well. Many times I literally had my face up against a window or had to go out side to get reception. T - Mobile was better, but not much. My main problem with them was dropped calls. Also, there was a massive paper work dance to get them to unlock my phone for international roaming. I hear that has been corrected now though. I never used verizon but know a lot of people who use them. I have seen a lot of problems with them. Such as lost emails and texts, calls that never connect, and difficult if not impossible to use internationally. Of course these are just my experiences and observations. AT&T, although expensive has worked great for me both domestically and internationally. No dropped calls, good reception almost everywhere I have been, and good sound quality. Their customer service has even been good. I am not trying to make a convert out of anyone, you have to use what works best you taking all considerations in to account such as price vs. quality. My, point is AT&T just upped their game and I am happy about it as their international plan has been great and T-mobile's was decent. So good news for AT&T users