Sprint Follows Rivals By Complicating Its Unlimited Mobile Data Plans (fortune.com) 55
Sprint on Thursday unveiled a new, more complicated lineup of unlimited mobile data plans. Sprint goes from having one plan starting at $60 per month to four different options costing $50 to $70 a month. "The main price hike hits customers who want to watch streaming video at HD quality instead of being reduced to DVD quality," reports Fortune. From the report: A new "Unlimited Plus" plan most resembles the carrier's current one, with subscribers allowed to use up to 15 GB monthly before experiencing slowed download speeds, receiving HD-quality streaming video, and getting free Hulu and Tidal subscriptions. It costs $70 for one line, rising to $180 for four lines. But Sprint also added a "limited time" promotion that cuts the price to $50 to $100 per month for customers who buy a new phone or bring their own device. A cheaper "unlimited basic" plan, starting at $60 for one line and up to $140 for four lines, slows downloads to 3G speeds after just 500 MB, downgrades streaming to DVD-quality, and offers just a Hulu subscription, but no Tidal account.
Although consumers no longer get cut off or have to pay expensive overage charges when they run through a monthly data allowance, they face an increasing array of restrictions and conditions on all but the most expensive unlimited plans, including slowed download speeds. Sprint's four-page press release announcing the new plans included 11 footnotes, signaling just how complicated they are.
Although consumers no longer get cut off or have to pay expensive overage charges when they run through a monthly data allowance, they face an increasing array of restrictions and conditions on all but the most expensive unlimited plans, including slowed download speeds. Sprint's four-page press release announcing the new plans included 11 footnotes, signaling just how complicated they are.
T-Mobile (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
T-Mobile ONE is the best plan in the US currently. Bar none.
My problem is that it doesn't work anywhere. Their coverage is garbage compared to Verizon. I really despise Verizon, but I'm going to have to switch to them if I want to even get texts where I'm living now.
Re: (Score:2)
You're the exception, not the norm.
Mind you, TMO has greatly expanded coverage using new (to them) spectrum in the last few years. Older phones that don't support those bands won't see the coverage changes.
Re: (Score:2)
My problem is that it doesn't work anywhere. Their coverage is garbage compared to Verizon. I really despise Verizon, but I'm going to have to switch to them if I want to even get texts where I'm living now.
I think you probably meant it doesn't work everywhere. But seriously, it's gotten much, much better. I'm on MetroPCS (same network), paying $90 for three lines, unlimited. I don't care about 480P video streaming since I rarely sit down and watch video on my phone, and when I do, it's typically in an office or at home where I have WiFi so it's not throttled down. In the last two years I've had phones on both AT&T and Verizon, and this is absolutely "good enough" coverage. With their recent network overha
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Some potentially relevant links:
https://www.t-mobile.com/respo... [t-mobile.com]
https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobi... [reddit.com]
https://www.t-mobile.com/news/... [t-mobile.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Cockroaches are remarkably successful.
It wasn't their looks that made parasites ugly, he realised, so much as their enthusiasm... - `Hotwire', Simon Ings
Re: (Score:2)
Customer service. I've rarely had an issue with Sprint, but whenever I've sent in some feedback, they've given me a month of free service. When there has been an issue, they've found a solution AND checked up with the results. Example: I moved to a new area last year. Plenty of AT&T and Verizon coverage but very lacking in Sprint coverage in my home. I asked if they have plans to expand. They said they didn't, but were looking for people to test out a new program. This is the program: https://www.cnet.c [cnet.com]
streaming video (Score:3)
>"The main price hike hits customers who want to watch streaming video at HD quality instead of being reduced to DVD quality,
I must be in a tiny, tiny, tiny minority. I have never watched much "streaming video" on my phones, other than the occasional YouTube video here and there. And usually on WiFi. Why would anyone give a damn what resolution over "DVD quality" they are watching on a tiny 5 inch screen?
Anyway, I can certainly understand WHY mobile carriers want to limit resolution and bitrate of video, since video uses TONS AND TONS more data than anything else you could do on a phone. Still, the word "unlimited" is now so abused, probably making it second place only to the word "free" (which is almost totally meaningless now).
As an aside, still very happy with T-Mobile. Simple plans, cheap, great coverage, fantastic customer service, convenient and helpful people at the numerous stores around here, no problems with the technology. Was with Sprint for a very long time (17 years?) before switching 4 years ago. Sprint had constant technological problems- messed up towers, repeating and lost or delayed text messages, disconnected calls, activating phones was a nightmare of frustration, data so slow I couldn't hardly do anything much of the time in half the places I went, bad customer service (over and over), few stores and with tremendously long waits, numerous billing issues, whew. I hope this merger doesn't contaminate/degrade the T-Mobile experience. Some things I want to leave in the past.
Re: (Score:2)
Why would anyone want to watch Netflix on such a tiny screen? People are weird. (Not you of course).
Re: (Score:2)
Same here. $30/month Boost Mobile (Score:2)
> I have never watched much "streaming video" on my phones, other than the occasional YouTube video here and there. And usually on WiFi. Why would anyone give a damn what resolution over ""DVD quality" they are watching on a tiny 5 inch screen?
Sam's here. What TV and movies I watch, I watch at home, using a home connection. Are people using their phone as their *only* connection, with no home internet or TV service? That's a pretty inefficient / silly use the technology - fiber or coax has a lot more b
Re: (Score:2)
I'd probably watch more videos (youtube included) in my car if there wasn't a 1-2 second delay of audio versus the video. It's annoying.
That said, on trips or times I bring my headset, I watch videos on my phone. I usually downgrade to 480 tops if I have a slow connection as I don't really care if it's HD vs SD. That said, I can definitely tell the difference in quality on my 5.5 inch screen
Re: (Score:2)
You shouldn't be watching videos while you are driving there champ.
Cars have 3-4 extra seats (SUVs and Minivans even more still) besides the driver's seat where you absolutely can watch video. Bonus: If someone else is the driver the car will even be moving!
Re: (Score:3)
You cana download the videos at home before you leave.
Re: (Score:2)
Why would anyone give a damn what resolution over "DVD quality" they are watching on a tiny 5 inch screen?
Why is a 5" screen your requirement? We are talking about cellular devices here, not 5" screens.
Just as an example the Samsung Galaxy S8 can output HDMI at 720p, and just so you are aware there are HDMI capable displays far larger than 5 inches. There are cellular devices on the market right now that can output full 1920 x 1080 to an HDMI display too.
So you are asking why one would want to watch 1920 x 1080 videos on a 60"+ sized screen that are better than the allowed 426 x 240... and I don't know how to answer that in a way you might understand.
So, if you output from your phone over an HDMI cable, you're likely plugging into a projector, a TV, etc. Isn't it very likely that you're in a fixed location, where WiFi access is probably available? I'm not saying there's never a need to do 1080P off an LTE network, but it's an edge case not something every single person needs 100% of the time. And all the major carriers, for a small uptick in your monthly cost will let you do just that if you have that need. In the mean time, a whole bunch more of us who
Re: (Score:2)
>"Just as an example the Samsung Galaxy S8 can output HDMI at 720p, and just so you are aware there are HDMI capable displays far larger than 5 inches."
We are talking about mobile video. If you are trying to replace your home ISP service with a cell phone, that is a different matter.
That's crazy (Score:1)
Why would you ever watch video on mobile data?
Re: That's crazy (Score:1)
Agreed. Nobody needs guns either.
Who cares (Score:3, Insightful)
Being alive/conscious and paying attention to my surroundings and doing stuff is so boring, I must be entertained at all times. I must be spoon-fed a constant stream of vapid garbage video, even if I have to ruin my eyes watching it on a dinky little phone screen. I can't just, you know, do something else. Life is meaningless outside of watching video.
Who needs "Unlimited"? (Score:2)
"unlimited" with 4 different limits! (Score:3)
Orwellian f^cking language. Why is this even legal?
Re: (Score:2)
It means "without imposed limits".
In the context of mobile data plans, a layperson is within rights to construe it as "without imposed limits on monthly data volume communicated to/from my device(s) over the network."
two words (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I looked at it. It costs more than my legacy tmobile family plan with unlimited data (including HD).
It looks like it costs more than the non legacy plans too depending on usage.
Re: (Score:2)
Usage is key. It's cheap if you don't use much data, but you pay for every megabyte used. Heavy data users are probably better off somewhere else.
Inevitable (Score:1)
The end of neutrality. (Score:2, Informative)
The price rises mark the end of net neutrality. Data costs will first rise. Selected streaming packages will be sold as channels with free data. Use of selected partner marketing tools such as search engines will be free of charge for data. Consumer looses as usual.
Re: (Score:1)
"I expect the limits to continuously improve" - You mean like more and stricter limits?
Sprint is Desperate (Score:2)
Sprint is desperate for customers. I took advantage of their "switch to Sprint for a year for free plan" and moved my family to Sprint in such a debacle that I wrote about it online, and it got their CEO's attention, a personal e-mail, then his executive services team involved to fix my account.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Sprin... [reddit.com]
I'm currently four months into my free year, and when it's over, I'll be switching to Verizon, simply for the fact that Sprint has shitty coverage. There's a tower 3 miles from my h
You keep using that word. (Score:1)