cell phone recommendations?

[bacarver]

My husband and I have bragged about being cell phone-less, but this will soon come to an end. We are going to start building a house before much longer and we must have a way to communicate with the workers as needed.
Any suggestions for a cell phone/plan that is simple, basic, inexpensive, and reliable? No bells and whistles required.
We don't know anything about cell phones as we've tried to live in the dark as long as possible.
What are some problems to avoid?
Thanks!
Barb

[indigoiis]

I have been using a tracfone for a few years now and love it. So does my husband. Since we only use our phones for limited contact, we just didn't need a huge plan. We only buy the minutes we need - and once a year we buy a bunch with the "double your minutes" card so that we don't have to worry about upping them once every three months.

[OakLeaf]

The main "problems to avoid" are networks that don't have good coverage in your area. Stay away from PCS networks like Sprint and T-Mobile that have coverage only in major cities and along some freeways. Along with that, make sure you get a phone that has 1G digital capability (CDMA or TDMA) - nearly everywhere has 2G now, but it never hurts.

Verizon has the best reputation among the long-distance motorcycling set. Unfortunately my own traveling has really been curtailed since I switched to Verizon, but "out east" anyway I've never been more than a few miles without coverage. Southern Indiana is similar to southern Ohio - rural hill country - so there are always going to be pockets in the shadows of hills where you have no signal (are you sure that there's coverage at your homesite at all?).

You might get the best deal by bundling services. Have you checked with the company that will have the landline, TV and internet at your new homesite? Even though you'll only be signing up for the wireless at this time, some companies will let you bring an existing contract into a bundled plan when the time comes (check first, though).