Sprint CEO Hints at the Death of Unlimited Data

Bah. I don't want to switch carriers. It's one of the reasons I've stayed with Sprint all these years.

(not holding my breath, but) maybe they'll have some sort of grandfather clause.

Yeah we're on grandfathered unlimited 3G and our average usage lately has been in the area of 15-20 GB/month.

Why should low use users pay for you. It is called breakage and Republic Wireless is ramming the flames big time y letting theow use users like 50 to 100 mb feel they have been having to pay for the data hogs. In Republics case a data hog is 1 to 2 gig at the new pricing level.
Now since Sprint is canceling unli.kted planstbey are saying see. E an the trlco can. not afford hogs. The day of the low use user is finally here and we will only pay for what we use. As said their use is like 50 to 100mb a month. Then the hogs can pay their fair shake finally. Republic is 15 per gig but pay only what you use. They say all carriers should do it.

Can't tell if sarcasm or not...

I thought that the general understanding is that on wireless, the "data hog" might start around 50+ GB/month but is definitely at 100+ GB/month.

In fact, for those on Sprint Unlimited, I remember reading somebody said (I don't know if it's true or not), but as long as you stay under 50 GB/month you won't show up on Sprint's "radar".

I would personally think 15-20 GB/month would be mid-range. Especially since we are also paying for a 30 GB/month AT&T plan we use to supplement the Sprint.

No the mvno Republic at their new pricing lever break even if less than a gig or two. The low use users brag they only use 50 to 100 mb. Now Republic was setup for WiFi offload. But google fi is $10 a gig. So mvno pricing is at least $10 a gig maybe in future. Think the carriers ar e going that way also by killing unlimited. Get you used to caps and offloading to WiFi.
Wonder if unlimited text and cell are next. Maybe pay for long distance again.

You can pay for what you want and use as little as what you want, but don't be silly and ignorant, attacking other customers. There is no such thing as a "hog". people buy their devices and use them as they need to. Just because all you want to do is make phone calls and check your email once in a while does not mean your lack of interest is the curve by which everyone else should adhere to. Furthermore, your poison tongue and comment should be reserved for the company offering unlimited data. If I am paying for unlimited data - you bet your rear region I am going to use what I pay for. Finally, people who have unlimited data PAY FOR IT - through the nose. It is not cheap - and guess who benefits, people like you, the low use user, because we are not going to use all the data we are paying for anyway.

That's sort of patronizing, I really do not believe there are any hogs and the whole congestion argument is a lie to get us fighting each other instead of addressing the company who is just making distractions so they can slip in more and higher charges.

and this is why they were advertising and crated a "unlimited data for life" plan. that is now no longer being advertised.

The Google Fi way of "pay as you go data" is coming to all wireless providers. It kills off unlimited, but is fairer than tiered data plans(1Gb , 3Gb, 5Gb, 10Gb) where you lose what you don't use. You pay for what you use - even if it is less than the tier you sign up for.

that's an excellent idea. With revenue neutral pricing , pay as you go data is the way to go. responsible users will save a lot of money while having all the needed flexibility. yeah, sure bad for those guys who watch streaming video at work 8 hours a day.

Republic Wireless is testing something similar, and it's expected that it'll roll out soon to everyone.

If you can keep your usage to 1GB or less, it'll be a pretty good deal, and even cheaper than Google's "fi."

In any case, it's an interesting concept.

Sad to hear Sprint's ducking out of the "unlimited" game though. Kind of a shame.

Guess I'm "lucky." In my area, they have decent coverage.
Getting "Band 12" roaming going (with T-Mobile, since it's "their" spectrum) will prove interesting. If (when...) they can roam w/each other, that'll be pretty interesting.

Responsible users a gig or less.
Heck they will scream for pay as you go minutes next. Bring back ATT with buck a minute long distance. Only a hog would call ld more than on major holidays to say hi.

I'd love pay as you go minutes. I used 7 voice minutes last month, and used 800MB ( 1 GB) seems silly I need to pay for "unlimited calling"

get a lower plan. go prepaid.

I need roaming because I spent every other weekend in an area that is only US Cellular. Best option I've found so far is Sprint framily on a plan with 9 other lines, $25/mo includes unlimited voice and 1gb of data.

Prepaid carriers don't roam on to US Cellular

Maybe we should just send Republic 10 bucks a month and sit the phone on our mantle as a master piece. Take out the old big tablet and use that.
Better not use cell or text either as might cost them money. We should pay for cell minutes and text breakage as we only use a couple text and a few minutes a month.Everyone is a hog.
Heck soon Africans in the heart of the desert or jungle will use more data cheaper than we do. Cry fr the poor companies and stone the data cell hogs.

I see them car crash and can not get up. OMG can not use the Republic cell as I would be a hog. I better crawl out of the ditch and flag down a passing car to save Republic money. Can not be an abuser. I'd rather be dead than cause breakage.

Republic for when your iron lung has wifi.
Your low security federal prison has wifi and allows cells, think Republic.
Your parents basement has wifi Republic.
Your parents have dementia and can not even find their cell phone, Republic.
You carry a Verizon hotspot with you everywhere, tether Republic.
Your Amish and your buggy doesnt even use LED tail lights, Republic is for you.

That wouldn't be an issue except if they leave pricing the way it is now, and charged MORE for those who use more than a GB a billing cycle, they will see even more customers leave. There will be no incentive to stay. Network is slow. Dropped calls. LTE is a joke (see Network is slow). blah blah blah. They are doing the "creative marketing" where you pay the same price but get less.

People will be sticking g a quauter a minute into a payphone so as they are not abusing their wireless carrier and they will brag how great they are.

Payphone??? Where are there payphones now? I haven't seen one near me in 10 yrs.

When cell minutes get charged long distance and limited like data they will reappear.
Heck the plans use to have a few hundred minutes and unlimited data. Now bet if they can get away with it with both will be limited.

And it will only be available to select areas and it won't really change the way the industry works. Google will shelve the idea and claim that they did what the set out to. launch the product and show it could be done but forget that they never had any customers.

they take the last incentive that still had people use them...

Even in 2 years, Sprint's network can never be better than others. No way!
I lived in Orange County close to Disney or Anaheim where is high density populated metro-like area. The closest tower is 900 ft away but zero coverage in open front street, backyard etc. Even Sensorly shows it and Sprint careless about customers.
I have been told 4G WiMax upgrade, Network Vision, 1x-advanced upgrade, LTE upgrade, multi-mode tower upgrades, Spark TD-LTE and guess what?! nothing helps.
My community has a city park next to it, 598 families, next to 2 highway crosses.
I wait for them to adjust their tower since 2006, and still living to the 3rd Airave (femtocell) then now malfunction wifi calling. After all these years, nothing improved but wifi calling the latest.
Sprint can only use unlimited data for their extremely spotty, congested Spark network (at least in Los Angeles) and cheaper price, or I don't see any claims can work.

Totally agree. And every time one needs to take advantage of these "new advancement", one has to get new phone.

1) Look at how far T-Mobile has come with the past 2 years. Progress/improvement is definitely possible if the company is focused on technical performance over financial shareholder appeasement. Sprint also has a good amount of spectrum to be able to pull it off.

2) I'm not completely giving them a blank slate, but I think it's also unfair to pin all of Sprint's past failures on Claure. He was brought in to revamp the brand and revitalize it and I think he's been very aggressive and serious in turning the ship around. I honestly believe he'll bring Sprint to legitimate contention and given enough time, actually surpass the Big 2. Their problem is what T-Mobile had; reputation will take much longer to restore than their real-life technical metrics.

Still gonna hang with T-Mobile because of their pricing and coverage for me, but like everyone says for TMUS, the more moves and improvements Sprint makes, the better it is for the industry and all consumers as a whole. I'm rooting for ya Sprint!

So are you really sure it is an ACTIVE Sprint tower.
Other thing is it could be tilted for distance and even though right on top of it in some quirky blind spot.

When I drove by, the signal bars pop quick. It was listed on Sprint's network vision info site before. The main problem of this site is it's very low profile, less than 1 story height. It looks like trying to hide away from something.

Then it's probably for in building coverage for some building, and not for everyone in the neighborhood to use for downloading their torrents and stuff.

Sprint is always No. 1 @
Spotty network
Slow network
Signal-less network

Have anyone tried Sprint on Las Vegas strip not even hotel rooms? Oh boy, keep that in your pockets, the voice or data is always busy.

Detroit Metro area. I can drive down the street, max bars, turn the corner, drop, drive 3 more house and max bars again. This in a sub of 1000 homes and .4 miles from their tower.

Marcelo should update their pin-drop logo to just a single bar. Then their marketing would finally be consistent with the level of LTE bars they provide out in the real world in 2015.

Sprint -- The Someday Network™

But fewer bars in fewer places. I dumped AA for Sprint.

Why would you leave them? I would have joined AA if I had to use Sprint has my primary carrier.

It's just too hard for Sprint to resist a extra revenue stream.

This has absolutely nothing to do with company costs, but everything to do with extra revenue currently being left on the table.
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Cell phone carriers don't get it. I refuse to throw money away every month just to move squares around on my phone so I can download ads that could count against my bandwidth.

No more unlimited data means I will drop Sprint as a provider. Sprint coverage is poor as it is in my market.

Sprint's coverage is poor in EVERY market. Sure, there are pockets where it's ok, but go a couple hundred feet over and you're back to 1-bar or 3G.

The only way they can go from #4 to #1 or #2 is to drop a few billion is network upgrades and most likely hieing every available cell engineer they can get there hands on....

I think most of the current issue in some areas is still back haul. They need grunt labor to climb towers and put in microwave on some sites and give up for the foreseeable future on fiber or fiber like in some remote areas.

"With Sprint still in last place in terms of network coverage, speed, latency and customer satisfaction ratings, the carrier has spent most of the last decade promising that dramatic improvement is right around the corner."

Sprint has unsuccessfully (since the Nextel acquisition) bought out smaller guys to expand their network, coverage etc. They have promised improvements over the years that just hasn't materialized. I feel they are doomed to stay in 4th place until they die out....or...merge with someone else and get bought out.

Unlimited Data is their one and only incentive to consider them, but if I was AT&T or Verizon, I would not consider buying Sprint while Unlimited remained in effect because I would have to "grandfather" that for existing customer base which is contrary to my business model. But...If I offered to buy them out for several million or a few billion providing they also go tiered data, it would be a lot easier to pull off a merger...providing the FCC would allow it. Im not even sure T-Mobile would be interested/able to buy them out.

There is no word of this happening at all, I am just pointing out that if I were Sprint I would have a hard time selling out of the business and merging with someone if part of that deal had to include grandfathered unlimited data users

None of the other major carriers would be allowed to buy them out.

Sadly the business world does not work so If a new company comes in and takers over A existing business they can easily take you off of your granfathered plan just by giving you prior notice ( usually 60 - 120 days) unless your still under a contract you will be transferred to whatever plan they deem is the equivalent. your only choice would be to leave or take the new plan, Same thing happened in the Banking world. Example I was with Wachovia for over a decade and when Wells Fargo took them over they sent me a notice that My accounts would changed 120 days later, HIGHER maintenance fees ( went from $1 per mth to $12), larger minimum in account to avoid under Min balance fees ( went from $500 to $2500) and lower daily withdraw limit( went from $2000 to $1500).

Wells fargo told me flat out if I didn't like it to leave, Guess what I did? I left and took money and my business to A local credit union thats in the CU Network with shared branching, I haven't looked back at a big bank since.

I swear every time someone from Sprint opens their mouth stupid comes out. Sprint cannot survive without unlimited. Period. If they think otherwise they are delusional.

Seriously, Marcelo Claure must have got shit for brains. Stuff like that will scare off customers when they start thinking "why go to or stay with Sprint if they're gonna take away unlimited?" when Sprint isn't in any position to afford such a scenario.

Sprint has been promising improvements in everything for years now and nothing has really happened. Sprint Spark is still limited and even with Spark, they're still dead last in everything. They just can't get their shit together. Then they top it off with the "let us come to you and set it up" crap. It reeks of desperation while providing no real improvement.

Maybe throttled unlimited data plans (not extremly slow) may be the best option to keep unlimited data, but also keep the network from being overload.

A relative was on some 1500 minutes shared family talk plan for $230 a month with all the fees. I showed him how my $30 Walmart Family Mobile plan is actually superior to his plan and he couldn't believe how badly they were ripping him off. I think they take advantage of legacy customers who simply do not know any better. BTW, that $30 walmart plan also offers unlimited (though throttled after 1GB) data.

If Sprint drops or forces people to change their unlimited plan, I foresee a mass customer exodus in Sprint's future.

I've been on an unlimited data plan since switching over from Nextel and recently got a free upgrade to unlimited minutes. It's like $85 /mo with add-ons and fees/taxes. Not planning on dropping the plan unless forced to, then, of course, it will be bye bye Sprint.

Just don't know where to go to afterwards.. not a Verizon or ATT fan.. so dunno.
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I used to be primarily annoyed with AT&T for buying out carriers I tried to switch to get away from the death star. Then it was MetroPCS's pakistani tech support and the utter inability to get anyone on this side of the oceans with any authority to do anything.

Sprint somehow managed to usurp the GTL douche cruiser award from all of these companies by having such blatant lies of their coverage, and blatant noncompliance with the federal unlock law, refusing to unlock phones that had already been bought and paid for.

At this point, the only reason that Sprint could do without unlimited plans, is because in practice, almost nobody is going to have a signal that would justify having it from them. In every independent coverage measurement that I have been able to see for myself, Sprint is dead last in terms of not only basic coverage, but data speeds. So, while their tie-in with the NBA might have been useful to stream live games for me, what good is having that ability if I am - at best - getting 0.09mbps for data speeds where I live, much less work?

If you bring this up to them, it's just the same excuses, like a roboticized phone line. And even if you do complain, the higher up the totem pole you get, the nastier and more unprofessional people you get on the other end. And their phone support is absolutely stupid, because every single time you do call, they always demand that you call from *ANOTHER* phone line. *expletive* *racial slur* what makes you think I have a need for two phone lines, ever? And if I had to do that to maintain service, why the hell would I ever keep YOUR line?

Would've thought I'd have got over it since switching to a pure unlocked phone and going with T-Mobile, but the experience with Sprint and its pre-paid(s) was so aggravatingly sour, I would not even wish their crap on my enemies.
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They have you call from another line because if they make some changes on your device it might automatically restart the device. When you call into other carriers care centers, it has been my experience that they also ask if you are calling on the line you are calling about. That is just common sense.

.... Sprint will pull this off is if they purchase one of the other carriers!

Seriously i use Republic. The majority there can not wait to pay per gig as the high level abusers are costing them money though breakage. They are drooling over $15 a gig pricing. The hogs will now have to pay for what they use.
They gleefully use less than 100mb a month but need 4g to do it and 3g is just too slow.
So the old plan 25 for unlimited throttle after 5gb at 3g speed will go to 25 for 10 base cost and 1gb if used for $25. The 4g speed plan is 40 so break even is a little more.

But the low users are just ecstatic to get there 50mb to 100mb at cost as pay per use. So less than a couple dollars for that low of use. You just pay for amount used like Google fi.

Anyone using more than a gig a month should pay for it as a hog.
I didnt realize so many that had cells lived at home around wif 24/7 or work wifi 24/7 and never used their phone anywhere else.

I replied to you more detailed up above. But I guess it turns out you're being serious after all, I couldn't tell from the other post.

In many rural areas, cell service is our high speed Internet. Heck you can get 1 GB month easy just doing Windows security patches on a few computers.

This is so typical of American corporate culture. Sprint's mammoth spectrum holdings will allow it to enable up to a gigabit/sec. on each tower. Yet once their network is up to speed they'll throw away unlimited just to price gouge their subscribers.

Unfortunately, Sprint's mammoth spectrum holdings are all on band 41. You can make faraday cage that can block band 41 out of paper mache. Having good band 41 coverage is going to require so many new towers it will bankrupt them. Sprint won't even fix their existing dead spots.

Stupidly they are under the illusion that their existing spectrum is enough. Meanwhile, their competitors have enough 700 Mhz and AWS to blanket their markets with coverage and have good speeds while Sprint has LTE on PCS that craps out 2 miles from the tower and depends on 5x5 LTE on 800 Mhz for the rest.

This is not much of an exaggeration. At our old house, we found out that our plastic venetian blinds were blocking our Sprint 3G signal.