Across the ABC 13 Viewing Area - Just about every cell phone provider is going to tell you they've got the most complete coverage. But how do they hold up in our area? We put five major providers to the test.

We made more than 400 phone calls, 440 to be exact. We traveled over 450 miles in two days, dialing for dead zones and finding out which companies are dropping your calls.

Brian Damewood, ABC-13 News "Full connection."

We made our first set of calls in Lynchburg, then headed South down Route 29 toward Danville.

Brian - "Am I coming through crystal clear?"

Testing five providers -- Alltel, AT&T, nTelos, US Cellular and Verizon. We called the ABC-13 Newsroom.

Kimberly Hanigosky, ABC-13 News "ABC-13 News."

Brian - "How does it sound?"

Kimberly - "Countdown for me."

Brian - “One, two, three, four five.... "

Kimberly - "Coming in loud and clear."

We made calls on all five phones within three minute sets, writing down if the call connected, and scored reception quality. Ten points if it was excellent. Seven if my voice went in and out. Four if the call sounded poor, and zero if it dropped.

We found service was pretty solid on Route 29 between Lynchburg and Danville. But on Route 58 near Axton -- Alltel and Verizon hit a dead zone. Riding up Route 220 in Henry County, both were still shaky.

Brian - "It's a little crackly. O.K., so Verizon and Alltel both crackly. I think it's because it's the terrain."

On the first day, a US Cellular call dropped in the Ellet Valley. After day one, we only had two dropped calls.

Tim Litchfield, US Cellular Network Engineer - "You want to cover the core of your major cities. Then you say, 'Well how are people getting to and from the cities?’ Well, it's all the major arteries -- 29 South, 29 North, 460 East and West."

And I-81 -- exactly the areas where we were testing. So on day two we headed north, toward the back roads to find out which carriers had coverage off the beaten track.

Brian - "Can you hear me, hello, hello."

Len Stevens, ABC-13 News "You're breaking up."

Brian - "Call dropped on the nTelos."

We had a couple drops near Elon in Amherst County.

Brian - "Can't get a call to go through on AT&T."

Alltel user John Seamster says this area is a rough one for coverage.

John Seamster, Alltel Customer - "I travel a lot, going across the mountain. I lose it in certain spots."

The salesman is right. Near Forks of Buffalo, we hit a dead zone for all carriers, which wireless expert Mike Buehrer says is inevitable.

Dr. Mike Buehrer, Virginia Tech "It's very difficult to cover all the holes. Because of the mountains and terrain you're bound to have coverage holes."

Each carrier's service went in and out through the mountains. But AT&T was out from Elon until we reached Buena Vista, and then we couldn't make a call until Bedford City. From Moneta to Altavista, Alltel dropped once -- Verizon twice.  And in one Lynchburg apartment complex, US Cellular was the only one that connected in this low spot.

Buehrer - "When you're down, there's a very good chance the signal's not going to reach you."

So after hundreds of calls, which carriers did we find are reaching you?

Buehrer - "It wouldn't surprise me at all if all of the companies are pretty close to the same and have pretty good coverage."

Buehrer is close but, nTelos led everyone in connection percentage, they connected 91-percent of the time. AT&T finished last, at 60-percent. And the winner for most dropped calls, that goes to Alltel and Verizon with four drops apiece.

But AT&T did lead in one category -- reception quality. They scored 90 points out of a possible 100. nTelos followed right behind them with a score of 87 out of 100. Our testing does not mean nTelos is the best carrier, or Alltel and Verizon will drop more calls, more often. But, we made these calls under normal conditions, just like you would driving to work, or going to pick up your kids. It should give you some idea about who is best for you.

 

Connection Percentage

nTelos 91%

US Cellular 90%

Alltel 85%

Verizon 83%

AT&T 60%

 

Dropped Calls

Alltel 4

Verizon 4

nTelos 3

US Cellular 3

AT&T 1

 

Reception Quality -- score out of 100.

AT&T 90

nTelos 87

Alltel 85

US Cellular 84

Verizon 81