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silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Interesting.

This kind of disproves all the mainstream media outlets who claim Sprint's unlimited plans are unsustainable. If only 4% use more than 3GB, same as At&t, then I would Sprint users do not abuse the unlimited. Marketing unlimited brings people in and if they only use 870MB, Sprint can market them a service and suffer no greater impact than the limited plans offered by Verizon and At&t.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

1 recommendation

iansltx

Member

The catch here is that, in many places, Sprint's network is not conducive to using a lot of data. When Sprint turns on LTE, I'd expect them to jump to roughly the same level as T-Mobile.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

1 edit

jjeffeory

Member

I'm on a grandfathered Verizon unlimited package. I don't use much data away from WiFi, but the problem is that my phone ( Thunderbolt) has trouble using 3G AND 4G data out in suburban DC. I would use MORE data if I could, but it's a real problem with my phone and I don't want to pay money for another phone to see if that helps ( Another Thunderbolt doesn't have as many problems and the data usage is a LOT higher because it gets used more by another person). I wonder if that many people are having data connectivity problems like me?
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco to iansltx

Premium Member

to iansltx
True. Sprint does have a decent sized 4G WiMax footprint though. I have no idea how that performs for phones since Sprint does not have WiMax in my state, but I would think that would deliver decent speeds to users.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks to silbaco

Member

to silbaco
said by silbaco:

This kind of disproves all the mainstream media outlets who claim Sprint's unlimited plans are unsustainable.

Unlimited is perfectly sustainable, it just requires a greater infrastructure investment than tiered plans. The question is, should a provider make such an investment for a small minority of its customers, or is it better to monetize them? Verizon and AT&T have chosen the latter. Sprint and T-Mobile the former. The question that has yet to be answered is this: Will the simplicity of unlimited attract enough people to make Sprint and T-Mobile more competitive? If the answer is "Yes" then they have made the right choice and a handful of data hogs won't matter. If the answer is "No" then they've gained a bunch of data hogs for nothing.

My hunch is that this decision will prove to be a smart one for T-Mobile and Sprint. People like "unlimited", even when they don't need it, and they've proven willing to pay a premium for it in the past. Sprint and T-Mobile aren't even charging a premium for it, so it stands to reason they'll gain quite a few customers this way.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to silbaco

Member

to silbaco
WiMAX is nothing if not inconsistent on the mobile side. In some areas you can get 10 Mbps down or better and 1.5 Mbps up. A mile away, you might have no 4G at all, or 4G that is slower than good 3G.

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska

Premium Member

said by iansltx:

WiMAX is nothing if not inconsistent on the mobile side. In some areas you can get 10 Mbps down or better and 1.5 Mbps up. A mile away, you might have no 4G at all, or 4G that is slower than good 3G.

Isn't that the truth or what! My laptop has clear wimax. Trying to get a good connection is near impossible. I can go half a block away and have my speeds go from 16Mb down to 1Mb down.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

...and yet I'm still tempted to grab a FreedomPop data stick, knowing full well what speeds are like here (I won't get the Spot because its speeds are poor compared to the stick...but then again the stick might have poor speeds as well).