Google already blew it. There are at least 3 variants of the GSM Galaxy Nexus, only one of which receives updates straight from Google. You can read about some of it here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1376856

The gist is that only phones with "yakju" OS builds are updateable by Google. yakjusc and yakjuxw also exist in the market, but Samsung pushes the updates for these. Guess which variant got the OTA software update and which ones didn't. I would also bet that Verizon will be pushing updates to devices rather than Google.

FWIW, my phone got the OTA fix for 900Mhz 2G networks.


The definition of "reasonable service" is so subjective. I don't really need to tell anyone that, I don't think. Anything you go with will be a compromise and it's going to be very tough to pick something without hands-on experience. You also can't rely on your friends that might have contract service if you're looking at prepaid. AT&T contract plans have greater coverage than prepaid. The same goes for T-Mobile, but the difference is even more dramatic.

AT&T contract coverage:

AT&T prepaid coverage (don't break-down in Nebraska):


T-Mobile does allow prepaid customers to roam for voice and text. But data is a no-no.

T-Mobile contract voice (green) and data (pink):


T-Mobile prepaid voice/text (green) and data (pink):


From my experience (only a few weeks), those grey areas of the prepaid data map are where you can roam on voice/text, but not data. Those are some serious holes. But, I'm not so worried about it because of where I spend most of my time. You live in Texas. Depending on where you are in the state, T-Mobile could be a terrible choice.

Just for fun, we can take a look at Simple Mobile, one of T-Mobile's few MVNOs. Their coverage map mirrors the T-Mobile prepaid data map which basically means there is no roaming off the T-Mobile network for anything. Depending on your needs, however, their $40/month unlimited everything plan might be a dream come true.