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Rob_
Premium Member
join:2008-07-16
Mary Esther, FL

Rob_

Premium Member

[Mobile] Pricing plans for sprint and tmobile

Whats the total price difference between sprint and TMobile? I want to get their $69.00 plan and know Sprint has a lovely $10.00 "premium data fee" not sure if TMobile does..

Both have decent amount of coverage (and we have 6% sales tax)

I wish Verizon would offer unlimited data, I'd hop to them..

-Rob
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

City/county/state sales tax (well, sales tax like you would pay on a candy bar at the gas station) doesn't really play into the cost of wireless service. There are different taxes and fees that very by state and tend to be significantly higher than sales tax (e.g. in Texas the rate is about 20% though sales tax is 8.25% on average).

Anyway...

T-Mobile will be cheaper...depending on the phone you get. $70 per month gets you unlimited everything (voice, texting, data) but you either have to buy your phone outright or pay for some of it now and some of it over the next 20 months. A smartphone costs $10-$20 per month this way, depending on how high-end of a phone you get.

Even with a high-end smartphone, T-Mobile is cheaper for unlimited everything than Sprint. HOWEVER 450 minutes plus Any Mobile plus nights and weekends starting at 7pm tends to be enough for most folks on an individual plan with Sprint. So at that point you're comparing $80 per month to $70 per month plus phone payments, which could put T-Mobile at the same level, or more expensive than, Sprint.

Note that tethering is an additional expense on either carrier. With T-Mobile, $10 above their unlimited plan gets you 5GB of tethering, but that data is shared with your on-phone activities. Add another $20 to increase the shared allotment (phone + tethering) to 10GB. By contrast, Sprint's tethering packages ($20 for 2GB, $50 for 6GB) don't mess with the unlimited status of your phone, and can be added/removed as needed (prorated by the day; I do this all the time).

Another factor to think about is phone selection. Specifically with regard to network performance. T-Mobile will be launching LTE in the next six months or so, but as of right now none of their phones support the technology. So their current speeds, while plenty fast (on downloads anyway), are as fast as you'll ever go on that phone without getting a new one.

By contrast, Sprint's high end phones have LTE, which on a good day beats T-Mobile HSPA+ on download speeds (in half the spectrum) and trounces T-Mobile's upload speeds any day of the week (in half the spectrum). The trade-off right now is that you'll be stuck in 3G for the next few months while Sprint builds out your area, but they /have/ started the buildout.

Personally, now is a bad time to sign a contract with T-Mobile in order to get a subsidized phone. If you want to get a phone on T-Mobile, pay full price for the Nexus 4 and then sell it when TMo comes out with LTE.
Rob_
Premium Member
join:2008-07-16
Mary Esther, FL

Rob_

Premium Member

What's the bottom line and does sprint have any plans that offer the unlimited data with out the unlimited plans? Honestly, 300 to 500 minutes would be enough for me. I can call after 7PM and it's mostly to different cell phones.

(and what do they charge for taxes and fees)

-Rob
bt06437
join:2001-12-03
Carrollton, TX

bt06437 to Rob_

Member

to Rob_
Rob,
Take a look at Virgin mobile, it uses the Sprint network, they have a $35/mo + fees, taxes that includes 300 anytime minutes, Unlimited data, text.
With a Smart phone, you can use an internet calling App, and never eat into your 300 anytime minutes, if so desired. I use Google voice.
They offer a range of smart phones that you can purchase.
Boost Mobile also uses the Sprint network.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to Rob_

Member

to Rob_
The cheapest plan Sprint proper offers (without going to Virgin Mobile or Boost) for smartphones with unlimited data is $80 per month plus taxes and fees.

Taxes and fees vary by state but will be comparable no matter which of the Big Four you choose. I don't know what the fee percentage is in Florida, but I'd guess between 10 and 20 percent.