I think it would depend on the cellular towers. You might want to get "Carrier Specific" when purchasing for them (whether its prepay or otherwise) check which carriers have the best coverage and go from there. You'd hate to purchase a Verizon based phone and he or she only have good coverage on ATT or something. Phones can be transferred from carrier to carrier or you can buy carrier unlocked. I'd weigh the pros and cons of each. Alot of carriers are offering really great benefits for switching carriers because obviously they are taking their competitors customer base. So getting a factory unlocked phone wont give you those same perks as opposed to switching carriers would. So do a little shopping of which towers are best in your friends area then from there see what great deals that particular carrier offers. They might have a deal for first time customers and a totally different one for switching so if you brought them a Verizon phone (paid off) to say...T-mobile they might say "Hey you get a $200 gift card for switching" or "heres a free headphones and case package" or something to that extent. Hope that Helps