The best deal with Verizon is if you own a business to talk to a business rep versus a retail rep (you can also work for a business that gets discounts). They give businesses, even small ones, discounts left and right and are happy to do so. I have 5 lines (3 smartphones, one tablet, one basic phone (for my grandmother), unlimited talk and text, 12GB data) and it runs about 150/month.
Here, it is a matter of coverage. Verizon made the investment in towers here when the Bakken boom started, not just in towns but out where it matters--in the boonies. Considering the only options which could transmit the data needed were satellite and cell phone, they dominated the market out there where the wellheads are. That not only worked for people working in the drilling end of the industry, but as production continues, those towers remain important to the people working in the production end of the oil patch as well. AT&T kept its loafers shiny and stayed in town and along the major paved roads, but when it came time to go to work, they did not cut it, and they did not get or keep the market share they inherited from Altel when they bought them out. I was done with AT&T when I couldn't get a signal without walking up on a ridge behind the rig, with a bag phone and directional antenna, but the guy I worked with was walking around the rig talking on a trakphone (ten bucks) talking away. Mrs. Joe was getting text messages up to two weeks after they were sent (yep, snail mail could have beat that).
The bottom line here, is that if you are going to depend on something working, it had better work. It didn't, and Verizon remains the carrier of choice.
In other areas, where other carriers may have more universal coverage, YMMV.
BTW, battery life between charges is related to signal quality. The better the signal, the less power needed for the phone to stay in touch with a tower. If the signal is crappy, the phone sends out a stronger signal to 'find' a tower, and the battery goes dead sooner. (The phone emits stronger RF energy, too).