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Communications Businesses Networking The Almighty Buck Wireless Networking

Sprint May Have Unlimited Data Plans, But Not Unlimited Customers 207

Posted by timothy from the get-busy-living-or-get-busy-dying dept.
mitcheli writes "Sprint announced a Q2 loss of $1.6B as 2 million subscribers left their service. While Sprint remains one of very few carriers to continue to allow unlimited data on their networks, the failure to reconcile two competing network technologies (iDEN Nextel and CDMA Sprint) combined with the lack of upgrades to their network and degrading service prompted a mass exodus of subscribers from their network. Of course the fact that during the iPhone 5 release, Sprint openly advertised that their iPhone would not be carrier locked, only to turn around and push out an OTA two months later that locked them probably didn't help much either."
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Sprint May Have Unlimited Data Plans, But Not Unlimited Customers More

Sprint May Have Unlimited Data Plans, But Not Unlimited Customers

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  • i'm on AT&T but looking to go to T-mo next year because the prices are actually cheaper. sure you get less LTE data, but i don't care. i have wifi at home and work. and LTE is more hype than anything else. i have two LTE phones i use daily and the real speeds are a lot slower because most of the content is virtualized and clouded to the point where the source is a lot slower than LTE
    Sprint costs just as much as AT&T and Verizon and their data speed is too slow for what you pay

    the unlimited data fien

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      I have looked at T-mobile, and for what I have it does not seem that much better. For one thing they say unlimited night and weekends, but it does not say it voice minutes are unlimited. I am on legacy rollover, so some months I use more, others I use less, and it tends to balance out. Coverage is an issue. I have devices for ATT, Verizon and Sprint. Where I am, ATT and Verizon are now the same, but I do travel to places where the ATT coverage is worse. Sprint coverage for 4G/LTE is spotty at best. I

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by alen ( 225700 )

        the new plans are unlimited minutes and texts. 500mb of LTE data going up to 2GB and unlimited if you pay more. data is unlimited but you are throttled after the first 500MB or 2GB which is a no biggie since i use less than 1GB most months

        • Re:t-mobile is the best low cost carrier (Score:5, Informative)

          by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo ( 1000167 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @12:21PM (#44424817)
          Caveat: As always, YMMV. I went over on my T-Mobile data a few months ago while at a conference. To my surprise even at 5GB I wasn't throttled. When I got back to my hometown I walked into one of their stores while my wife was shopping and asked them about it. The answer I got was that they reserve the right to throttle if you go over and that it's not an automatic thing. I have no idea if this is correct since in my experience salespeople are about as ill-informed as viewers of Fox News, but it is something to think about.

          • No, that's about right. I only ever got throttled once or twice on my old "unlimited" plan, and I consistently use about 1-3GB (hooray streaming music).

            Something people here haven't been mentioning: if you pay an extra $20/month, you get "true" unlimited data - no throttling at all.

            Also, your high-speed data cap also counts as a tethered data cap. So normally you get up to 500MB tethering/month included. If you spend the extra $10 per 2GB extra high-speed data, you also get an extra 2GB of tethered data (pe

    • Sprint costs just as much as AT&T and Verizon and their data speed is too slow for what you pay

      This - it applies to coverage too. Here Verizon has good coverage, AT&T unreliable, and Sprint only has a few towers. I can't think of any good reason to go with Sprint. If they had made WiMax work, then perhaps it could have happened, but they need to do more than offer 'unlimited' data to win customers. 'Unlimited data' would get me over to them _if_ the other problems were solved.

      • 'Unlimited data' would get me over to them _if_ the other problems were solved.

        Of course if the other problems were solved, they would have no need to offer "unlimited" data. Sprint isn't offering that because they are nice guys. They are offering it because they are getting their asses handed to them by Verizon and AT&T and it is a way to draw in customers that would otherwise go elsewhere.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by ArcherB ( 796902 )

          'Unlimited data' would get me over to them _if_ the other problems were solved.

          Of course if the other problems were solved, they would have no need to offer "unlimited" data. Sprint isn't offering that because they are nice guys. They are offering it because they are getting their asses handed to them by Verizon and AT&T and it is a way to draw in customers that would otherwise go elsewhere.

          From what I've heard, Sprint realized it was costing more to monitor and bill for data than the extra money they were receiving from the fines. It was actually cheaper to NOT monitor data.

          And for the record, I'm on Sprint and I have absolutely no issues whatsoever. 4G is as fast or faster than what I get at home and I get 4G coverage from home to work. I use a ton of data and could ever afford AT&T or any other phone company that monitors my data.

          • From what I've heard, Sprint realized it was costing more to monitor and bill for data than the extra money they were receiving from the fines. It was actually cheaper to NOT monitor data.

            Except they still have to monitor their customer's data usage, to enforce the 2.5GB limit on Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile, as well as the various billing strategies employed by their numerous MVNOs like Ting, etc.

    • i have two LTE phones i use daily and the real speeds are a lot slower because most of the content is virtualized and clouded to the point where the source is a lot slower than LTE

      This is the part a lot of people don't get. Once we got to 3G and 4G, the limiting factor often wasn't the mobile network anymore - it was the server at the other end.

      But people love posting those screenshots from their speed test app that show 70Mbps...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Andrio ( 2580551 )

      I'm on T-Mobile and I'm pretty happy. The lack of LTE is meaningless when you have HSPA+.

      My very first day on T-Mobile, I did a speedtest in my home. 12Mbps on cellular data. My jaw dropped, especially after having been with Sprint for nearly two years.

    • Unless you need to use it.

      I switched back from T-Mobile to Sprint after finding my phone would only work in cities. Anywhere on the highway between places nothing.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Hydian ( 904114 )

      I saved a lot of money by switching back to Sprint from Verizon and Verizon cost me a lot more when I initially switched away from Sprint even with a corporate discount.

      Coverage...it all depends upon where you are. My personal phone is Sprint and my Blackberry is Verizon. I travel a lot and in my purely anecdotal experience the Sprint phone has had slightly better coverage with fewer dropped call issues. I can't say which is better for data because I don't use my Blackberry for many data tasks and frankl

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lytles ( 24756 )

      i've been doing t-mobile prepaid for the last several years with google voice being my primary number. when i started with t-mobile they allowed a la carte data, but have since switched to a $2 per day (or $3 for 3g) plan, and the coverage seems to have gotten worse (living in northern ohio). i need data but in very small doses - primarily for google voice to sync sms (voice calls go thru the cell network) - have wifi at the house/office/bar

      i just switched to airvoice, an at&t mvno - data is $0.33 per M

  • Carrier Lock Not That Big An Issue (Score:5, Insightful)

    by adisakp ( 705706 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @11:34AM (#44423983) Journal
    While slashdot users may like to complain about carrier locking, your average US consumer doesn't really care. Why?

    Because they typically get a discounted or free phone that locks them into a 2 year contract anyhow. And by the time 2 years are up, they want a new phone anyhow.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by adisakp ( 705706 )
      It's like the whole thing where slashdot complained about "open" MP3's vs iTunes DRM. But consumers will pick whatever is better and easier.

      For cell phones, if the the data rate is slow or service sucks they will leave as soon as their 2 year contract is up. If service and data are awesome, they will stay.

      It has very little to do with iPhones being locked. How many people want to use a 3 year old iPhone when you're at least 2 models behind and a 3rd is about to be released?

      • It has very little to do with iPhones being locked. How many people want to use a 3 year old iPhone when you're at least 2 models behind and a 3rd is about to be released?

        I just sold my old iPhone 4 for more than I paid for it after using it all throughout the subsidy, so I guess at least one person wanted it.

    • I agree with you that most people won't care. However, if that were my iPhone 5, I would have sued Sprint immediately had they refused to unlock it.

      • I agree with you that most people won't care. However, if that were my iPhone 5, I would have sued Sprint immediately had they refused to unlock it.

        No, just port your number to a different provider with a new subsidy and sell off the practically new iPhone for a profit. If they try to come after you for ETF just tell them to suck it. They breached the terms of the contract, making it null and void.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by alen ( 225700 )

      most of us don't have ADHD or other mental issues where the simplest thing annoys us and causes us to switch a carrier

      i remember having a cell phone before number portability. it was predicted that lots of people would switch carriers, the opposite happened. a few crazy people switched carriers. a few others who live in a bad service area for that carrier did as well. most stayed since there was no point in switching.

      same with 2 year contracts. if i had to pay $500 for a cell phone and the service i would j

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sjames ( 1099 )

        So the 2 year loan with hidden interest and fees on $500 is the deal maker for you?

        If people typically had to pay for the phone up front (or put it on the credit card), it would probably be down to $400 or less by now.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by alen ( 225700 )

          with the prepaid carriers being $45 or so a month per line on average going 2 year contract was a good deal since the prepaid savings were tiny

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by bberens ( 965711 )
            I dunno what time frame you're talking about but for me pre-paid has been $40-50/mo for unlimited stuff (similar to your quote) but a comparable plan with contract was 90/mo. So even with a free iPhone or comparable device I still saved quite a bit by switching to pre-paid.

            • I dunno what time frame you're talking about but for me pre-paid has been $40-50/mo for unlimited stuff (similar to your quote) but a comparable plan with contract was 90/mo. So even with a free iPhone or comparable device I still saved quite a bit by switching to pre-paid.

              The part about the contract plan that really bites is that the rate doesn't go down once your contract is fulfilled and your subsidized phone is theoretically paid up. Unless you take some form of action, you will continue to pay that same $90/mo. I wonder how many months, on the average, customers continue to pay this high rate before getting a new subsidized phone or switching carriers.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by alen ( 225700 )

          for a while AT&T was at 18-20 months to upgrade so that was a nice discount compared to prepaid. now that everyone is at 24 months and the innovation in smartphones is gone, there is no reason

          i've used every version of ios and android for the last few years and the changes are minor on both camps

      • Most people didn't know about pre-paid yet either. There are lots of other options now and when you can look at it costing half as much, it really starts to make you question why?

        Doesn't happen overnight, but believe me, it happens.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sjames ( 1099 )

      That explains the commercials where the lady checks in to her cell contract jail cell. It';s obviously targeted at /. readers. I had no idea we were a big enough demographic to warrant a national ad campaign in prime time.

      Perhaps others don't put 2+2 together and realize that if their phone was network portable they would have a better bargaining position to avoid the 2 year lock-ins, but that doesn't mean the issue is unimportant to them.

    • your average US consumer doesn't really care. Why?

      Because they typically get a discounted or free phone that locks them into a 2 year contract anyhow.

      I don't care because of the contract. I was going to be with a carrier that long anyway.

      I care because I travel and I like to use other sims when traveling. That's why it may in fact matter even to the average US consumer. Especially true as the population grows older, more people retire - and travel.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by adisakp ( 705706 )

        I care because I travel and I like to use other sims when traveling. That's why it may in fact matter even to the average US consumer. Especially true as the population grows older, more people retire - and travel.

        If you are traveling, call Sprint's International Department at 888-226-7212 and Sprint will unlock your phone in about 5 minutes. [sprint.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by adisakp ( 705706 )
      Also worth noting... most carriers will unlock your phone after the 2 year contract period for the subsidized phone expires.

      For example here is AT&T Unlock Support [att.com]

      . If you search the websites or call sutomer service, the other major carriers do the same.

  • Lack of upgrades? (Score:4, Informative)

    by afidel ( 530433 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @11:37AM (#44424031)

    Sprint's in the middle of a complete network overhaul (called network vision) that will bring LTE to almost every cell site by the end of 2014 while significantly upgrading both the antenna's and backhaul at most locations bringing better coverage and better speeds. It hasn't gone nearly as quickly as Sprint's original timetable laid out, but they're less than 6 months behind that fairly aggressive timetable. I know I come off sounding like fanboi but it really annoys me when people can't get their facts straight and use that lack of knowledge to tear down one of the last hopes we have for real competition in the cellphone market in the US. Not only does Sprint compete against the big boys but by being friendly to MVNO's they foster new concepts that help to drive down costs (see Virgin Mobile (now part of Sprint) and Republic Wireless for examples).

    • Re:Lack of upgrades? (Score:4, Informative)

      by dietdew7 ( 1171613 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @11:56AM (#44424361)
      They haven't done a good job of informing their customers of the upgrades. I've used Sprint for over 4 years and paid for unlimited data and 4G access. Unfortunately they don't have 4G anywhere near me so I've paid for something I can't use. It also seems that 3G service has declined in the last six months, slower spotty coverage. Unless I'm on WiFi my phone is frustratingly useless.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by afidel ( 530433 )

        I agree that they've done a HORRIBLE job about keeping their customers updated, the only reason I didn't lose hope that the upgrade was ever going to get to me was this [s4gru.com] site, great technical information about the upgrade and the admins do a great job of keeping members updated on the progress of the rollout.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bonehead ( 6382 )

      that will bring LTE to almost every cell site by the end of 2014

      I would not recommend holding your breath on that.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by alen ( 225700 )

      nice, except that everyone else in the USA is already on LTE or HSPA+. been like this for years. why do we need sprint?

    • I'm sitting between Chicago and Milwaukee (South East Wisconsin).

      Not only did Sprint not have Wisconsin listed on their 4G website, but service around here has gotten MUCH worse in the last few months.

      I got sick of throwing away money for shit service and went to US Cellular. Awesome service/speed.

    • Re:Lack of upgrades? (Score:5, Informative)

      by wjcofkc ( 964165 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @12:53PM (#44425303)
      Until recently, I supported smartphones at Sprint. As a consequence, I had a front row seat to the Network Vision rollout from both the strictly corporate perspective as well as from the perspective of access to a wealth of robust network analysis tools. I can tell you that it is happening as quickly as is possible. One problem for LTE rollouts regarding all carriers is the simple fact that no one predicted that all of a sudden 200+ countries would suddenly start ordering massive amounts of LTE equipment from the very few companies that sell it... so there is a run LTE equipment which has been a speed bump. However, the Network Vision rollout has a lot more going on than just the LTE rollout but I don't have time get into that. Personally, I just got Sprint LTE in my area and regularly get 30+ down and 8 - 10 up. Not bad. One thing that has been confusing for customers is the difference between Sprint's 4G WiMax and LTE. A lot of customers currently getting great WiMax coverage are buying LTE phones in areas that don't have LTE yet, not realizing there is a difference (stores should explain this better), consequently they go from 8 - 10 down and 2 - 4 up to 3g, when they call up and find out what has happened from me (formerly), it's usually too late to take the phone back at which point they get understandably upset, pay their ETF, and go to another carrier. There are other complexities as well. Also, I have a good friend who works at T-Mobile and the way they are selling phones and service now really is a sweat deal to the point I might make the switch. However, it also needs to be said that Sprint has adopted a very similar model that is taking place as a pilot program in limited areas and through stores only. I think a lot of the reason they are shedding customers is due to their aggressive marketing for 4G LTE and unlimited data. A whole lot of the country has yet to have their 4G LTE switched on, and no one cares about unlimited data over 3g, so it is kind of misleading. Another part of the problem is the way they advertise the number of cities that now have LTE, the thing there is that they are concentrating their rollouts primarily in very small towns which is an artificial way of inflating their numbers - which is also confusing for customers. Basically their rollout is on schedule but their dubious ahead-of-time marketing is killing them.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by wjcofkc ( 964165 )
        Sorry to respond to myself I would also like to point out that push to talk has been ported over to CDMA from IDEN and it works well. I at one time thought that the Nextel purchase was a dumb move, and perhaps at the time it was. The reason they are decommissioning IDEN is to free up the 850 mhz spectrum it uses... they have interesting plans for it.

        I am by no means a Sprint fanboy, just telling it like it is.

      • One thing that has been confusing for customers is the difference between Sprint's 4G WiMax and LTE. A lot of customers currently getting great WiMax coverage are buying LTE phones in areas that don't have LTE yet, not realizing there is a difference (stores should explain this better),

        They shouldn't "explain this better" they should have make it a NON-ISSUE by offering dual WiMax/LTE phones as soon as they decided to roll-out LTE. Then Sprint could have started the LTE deployment in areas without WiMax fi

    • Yeah... I'm still waiting for the WiMax I was paying $10 a month extra for with my 4G phone that was promised about 3 years ago. It is interesting that they changed the $10 a month fee from a 4G fee to a "smartphone" fee. Think that even spawned a class action suit as a result.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by trcooper ( 18794 )
      The problem is, Verizon had nearly every cell site up with LTE by the end of 2012. Two years after that Sprint might be up to that level on their smaller network, and it's not a trivial amount of time from now, we're talking 16 months. When you combine that with their failed WiMAX rollout which overcharged and ended up shafting a bunch of customers who never got the speeds they were promised when they bought their phones, their 'Network Vision' looks pretty short sighted to a customer. Why would anyone

    • Sprint's in the middle of a complete network overhaul (called network vision) that will bring LTE to almost every cell site by the end of 2014 while significantly upgrading both the antenna's and backhaul at most locations bringing better coverage and better speeds.

      Not only that, they're also set to leap-frog their competitors and have the deepest LTE coverage of all, perhaps surpassing even their competitors' 3G coverage.

      The difference between Verizon's coverage and Sprint's coverage was the spectrum... V

  • From TFA: "Its [defection of] customers largely came from the Nextel side, where it lost 1.3 million customers. But Sprint's own prepaid and wholesale businesses also suffered losses. Only Sprint's core service remained in the red, adding a net 194,000 customers in the period. "

    IOW lack of upgrades and degraded service may have been problems, but they weren't the problems that led to the mass customer loss. It was Sprint shutting down PTT and former Nextel customers having no reason to stick around.

    • From TFA: "Its [defection of] customers largely came from the Nextel side, where it lost 1.3 million customers. But Sprint's own prepaid and wholesale businesses also suffered losses. Only Sprint's core service remained in the red, adding a net 194,000 customers in the period. "

      Wait, what? Doesn't "in the red" mean "negative?"

      • Yes... yes it does. Apparently in Soviet Sprint, gaining customers causes a loss.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by xigxag ( 167441 )

        Hmmm, true. :) But the word "red" means "net" in Spanish so maybe we can charitably assume that the author of the CNET piece made a mental transposition error, "remained in the red (net), adding a net ," in translating between his native Spanish and English.

        The author, Roger Cheng.

  • Adios, Sprint (Score:3)

    by TheNinjaroach ( 878876 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @11:45AM (#44424139)
    I used Sprint for over 10 years, always with "unlimited" data and texting. That same service over doubled in cost during that 10 year timeframe. They never once updated coverage in my area. One time last year I was stranded in the center of downtown Dayton, Ohio and couldn't even get a signal to make a call!

    Shitty reception, shitty prices, shitty customer service, shitty marketing, Sprint is just shitty all the way around.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PRMan ( 959735 )

      In the first 12 years with Sprint, I dropped maybe 4 calls. The service was that good in Southern California (their "home" area). But lately, I drop calls to my wife driving home EVERY DAY. First in one location, now in another. It's getting really bad.

      And the reason we got Sprint in the first place is that it was the only carrier that worked inside our house. Sure, we lost connection in a couple places in the house, but for the most part it worked. Now, they did some sort of network tower rearrangeme

    • Explain how this is even possible.
      Sprint uses CDMA. It shares it's towers with Verizon and other CDMA carriers for roaming purposes. How in the hell is it possible to blame Sprint for no coverage if what you say is true, there would be no Verizon coverage there either. Even when i was in rural alabama i could at least get some weak signal coverage. The only times it ever goes out normally is when i'm in a subway.

  • When I switched to Sprint from AT&T, it was nearly half the price for 2 "smart" phones with data and one "feature" phone. Sure Sprint's coverage was nowhere near as good, but for the price difference it was worth it since it worked OK in most of the places I was at anyway. Over time their signal quality has not improved, actually I'd say it's degraded quite a bit, and their pricing has gone up. If I were to renew my contract on the plans they offer today, I'd be within $10 per month of Verizon's plans with the amount of data we actually use. Add to this the fact that Sprint doesn't have LTE in my area, yet they only offer new phones with LTE data, not the older WiMax 4G. I'd have to downgrade my data speed to "early upgrade" our phones, and they aren't offering any kind of discount until LTE is in place. They won't even give an estimate of when LTE will be available. I talked to a Sprint rep a couple of weeks ago and was told they have tower techs working in this area, but they were working on a 3G capacity expansion, not an LTE upgrade.

    I've been with Sprint now for about 10 years, but unless something changes (in a big way) in the next 5 months before my contract runs out, I'm highly likely to be joining the mass exodus.

  • I live in KC where they're headquartered and had them 10 years ago or so. The service was atrocious, which I can't wrap my head around considering this is their turf and their employees *must've* heard complaints every single time they told someone where they work.

    They apparently got better for some time, but if they're stupid enough to fall back into that same hole they deserve to get bought out.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Andrio ( 2580551 )

      I used to have Sprint, in South FL. I had no complaints about the phone service, but the data service was abysmal. It was so bad, I actually developed a type of twisted, perverted fascination with the speed of Sprint's data. I had a speed test app, that I would often use when I felt especially frustrated. I guess it was a way of indulging my fascination. After dozens of tests, at different times throughout the day, and over a geographic area consisting of south florida (both coasts), and central Florida, o

  • Unlimited means nothing if the network sucks (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    That's why I had to leave Sprint after many years of being a customer: degrading network, and a poorly handled network upgrade in my city.
    Having an unlimited plan means nothing if you can't do a simple google search.
    The final straw for me was one day when I was running errands all over the city, and kept trying to look up something online but couldn't get connected no matter where I was; at that point I had to ask myself what I was paying for anymore.

  • This is the difference between knowledge & mar (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rabtech ( 223758 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @12:05PM (#44424533) Homepage

    Sprint has been weighed down by the horrible acquisition of Nextel. They were paying for two networks but only one network's worth of customers.

    The loss of these subscribers was intentional and predicted well in advance as Sprint finally shutdown the Nextel platform. They already recaptured the more valuable customers onto the Sprint platform and made a strategic decision to let some go because the equipment fees and/or discounts made it unprofitable to keep them.

    Part of the financial write downs was paying lease termination fees on backhaul and sites to shut down redundant Nextel locations. They won't ever post a quarter like this again; the Nextel bleeding has finally been stopped and their cost structure will only improve going forward. If you check the Sprint platform, they are still adding subscribers and revenue is up.

    They have also closed the Clearwire deal, allowing them to move forward deploying 2.5Ghz spectrum but that won't really bear fruit until next year when handsets start shipping with support for those frequencies. Now that iDEN SMR 850Mhz is shut down, they can deploy the 3x3 LTE channel in that space which should make a huge diffence for indoor coverage. They have been planning this during Network Vision (their modernization effort that is running fiber to every tower along with LTE) to deploy the Nextel spectrum. All the newer handsets already support it, including the iPhone 5. At the newest upgraded towers they don't even have to roll a truck, the equipment is already installed and can even have the downtilt remotely adjusted.

    They aren't stupid... Network Vision is running fiber to almost every tower with microwave bounces for the few that can't get it. The backhaul is all minimum 1Gbps, software upgradable, so they can just turn on more backhaul with a keystroke... The old network was all T1s, requiring a 4-6 week wait on the phone company. The new antennas are more sensitive, can be remotely tilted, and support more frequencies. The LTE gear is all software-upgradable to LTE-Advanced.

    They had two major problems. LTE equipment wasn't ready prior to their must-build deadlines for the 2.5Ghz spectrum and they were severely hampered in capital spending due to the Nextel boat anchor. They foisted off the 2.5Ghz spectrum on some investors to help offset the cost and protect the spectrum, probably knowing WiMax was a dead end. Boost was a way to help offset the cost of iDEN with prepaid customers they could jettison later.

    Now that SoftBank has solved the capital problem, they own the 2.5Ghz spectrum again, and they are rolling out fiber/LTE, they should be able to challenge the dualopoly on equal footing relatively soon. My city is one of the LTE launch markets and the difference between the old and new networks is night and day.

    Once you understand these things, you realize that Sprint is a good play, albeit somewhat risky. The market just goes off headlines (often completely bogus ones, see every Apple story ever) and freaks out. Those are excellent buying opportunities if you understand what is really going on with a company.

  • Why pay more for an unlocked phone? So you aren't in a contract, they don't give you a discount on services. It makes no sense that they make a person with a locked or unlocked or out of contract phone pay the same amount. Make it worth my while and I'll bring my own phone to the game.

    • Re:Carrier locks suck, but who buys unlocked (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jittles ( 1613415 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @01:35PM (#44425873)

      Why pay more for an unlocked phone? So you aren't in a contract, they don't give you a discount on services. It makes no sense that they make a person with a locked or unlocked or out of contract phone pay the same amount. Make it worth my while and I'll bring my own phone to the game.

      You can get an unlocked Nexus 4 for $300, sign up for T-mobile's $30/month unlimited data/texting (100 voice minutes), and save a ton of cash over Verizon/ATT/Sprint. Or if you want unlimited everything, it's $50 a month. Considering that I was at almost $100 a month with ATT and at $80 a month with Sprint, that $300 Nexus 4 would be paid off in 10 months with unlimited everything on T-mobile.

  • Do these numbers reflect Boost & Virgin Mobile (Score:3)

    by ArhcAngel ( 247594 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @12:28PM (#44424939)
    I haven't looked at the report so I don't know but since Sprint is the sole owner of both Boost and Virgin Mobile I'd be curious to know if their sales numbers are added in to Sprints total bottom line or if they are kept separate.
  • My recent Sprint to T-Mobile switch was per the need to replace a failing phone, and Sprint's inability to offer a price comparable to what I'd pay T-Mobile on a new activation. I spoke to two different agents, telling them specifically that I'd leave if they didn't offer me a better deal. In all fairness, I'd previously switched from T-Mobile to Sprint for the same reason. There must be some accounting reason why both carriers would sooner lose a ($99/mth, auto-paid on time every month) customer rather tha

  • T-mobile is gaining ground. (Score:4, Informative)

    by 140Mandak262Jamuna ( 970587 ) on Tuesday July 30, 2013 @01:19PM (#44425657) Journal
    Their no-contract plans are good. Despite a strong smear job by some Attorney General, (probably paid under the table by the big carriers), their phones are not locked once they are paid for. Unlimited talk, text and data, throttle down to 120 kbps after 500 MB, (10 Mbps before). 2GB more for 10$/month/line. 10 more for unlimited. When I got my nexus 4 from Google directly they gave me a micro simcard for free in their kiosk. Another nexus4 I saw from the store did not have as much junk pre loaded. No surprises so far.

    My brother was saying that T-mobile benefited immensely in the failed take over big by AT&T. Apparently they had fine print, saying AT&T should give T-Mobile some 3 billion dollars and access to its network, if the deal was stopped by the Feds. So suddenly T-Mobile's coverage area increased tremendously and got some money too. But other are saying that still, T-mobile's coverage is its weak spot.

  • For the last 6 months it has been $100 cheaper to get a new phone on Sprint... but only if you are a new customer. That is, existing customers pay $100 more for the same new phone. It's cheaper to leave Sprint and return than it is to stay with them.

    They want to attract new customers... but they shouldn't do it by shafting existing (good) customers. They should do it by showing that is valuable to be an existing good customer. But, they've forgotten that existing customers are a good thing.

  • I moved from ATT to Sprint the day that the HTC Evo 4G came out. I asked that day and they said "4G will be coming to this area in six months." 18 months later, WiMax 4G still hadn't come to the area, and Sprint had changed from deploying WiMax to LTE, so my Evo would never see 4G. They tried to sell me an LTE phone, and I politely advised them that I couldn't believe their deployment.
    Meanwhile, their "unlimited data" users - many coming from other carriers at the time - were swamping Sprint 3G, which was t

  • I work as a telecommunications coordinator for a pretty large convention in the Pacific Northwest. We have traditionally used Nextel iDEN phones for our comms, and as a general rule worked without any major hiccups.

    This year, we were forced to move off of iDEN (with the Nextel shutdown) to Sprint's more conventional network's push-to-talk service. It was a complete and total disaster. In addition to the fact that Sprint's building penetration is extremely poor, their network in downtown Seattle is overlo

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