Sprint Unveils $99 'Unlimited Everything' Plan Soundly beats Verizon's price point... Thursday Feb 28 2008 10:56 EDT In response to last week's announcements by Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile that they'd be offering unlimited wireless voice plans for $100 and up, Sprint has now announced their $99 "Simply Everything" plan. The new plan, which Sprint had been cooking up for a while, offers users unlimited national calling, as well as unlimited SMS/MMS, data, text, e-mail, Web-surfing, and Sprint music & TV services. Is this a bold, unprecedented move, Mr. CEO? quote: "This is a bold, unprecedented move," said Dan Hesse, president and CEO, Sprint Nextel. "Wireless today is about much more than just voice. It is about data services - texting, email, video, pictures, music, navigation, surfing the Web and more. Customers want these applications, but without complexity and without having to worry about their bill. The $99.99 Simply Everything plan delivers it all right to the palm of their hand now.
The service pricing soundly beats Verizon's offering, given Verizon is charging $100 just for unlimited voice, $120 for unlimited text & video, and $140 for full unlimited service (voice, SMS, assorted Verizon content). Will Verizon's CEO stick to his promise that he won't participate in a price war with a $40 price difference? Note that additional lines are full price. According to Sprint however, each additional $99.99 line added to your account subtracts $5 from the cost of your total bill (ex: two lines would total $194.98, or $99.99 + $94.99). Also keep in mind that as with Verizon, real unlimited EVDO data access, BES, DUN and tethering is going to cost you extra. The new tier is available tomorrow to new and existing customers, who, thanks to the Minnesota Attorney General, won't have to extend their contracts another one or two years to sign up for it. While Sprint's plan isn't the $60-$80 unlimited voice plan some expected, it should make Verizon execs think. However, Sprint's news seems to be overshadowing their release of fourth quarter earnings, which highlight the carrier's very ugly financial struggles. Obviously a low service price-point isn't going to be of much use to consumers if the company that's offering it can't offer quality customer service -- or more troubling -- even stay afloat. |
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How 'unlimited'Just wondering.
I've heard sprint is much better about data than Verizon, but I would be very curious to know about any of those unlimitations. | |
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ShadPTR
Member
2008-Feb-28 11:02 am
Re: How 'unlimited'True unlimited does not exist with large companies anymore. Sorry. =P | |
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to thevorpal1
If PSC Metro can do it for $45 why is the price $100+? | |
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Re: How 'unlimited'because Metro PCS has a network about 1/10th the size of Sprint. All those towers cost a lot of money, especially in rural areas where Metro has none. Also, as a Metro customer, unlimited is only on network. | |
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Re: How 'unlimited'If the towers / satellites are in place ANY company can lease them!!! Companies do not have their own towers...LMAOAU | |
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Re: How 'unlimited'Not sure which cell company today uses satellites for comms. Iriduum used to. If a compnay wants to use another companies towers, they have to pay handsomely for the privelige of doing so. What is your point? You are WRONG that companies don't own any of their towers. It is true that some have been sold off, but most of the towers in their native network are owned by them. | |
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Re: How 'unlimited'The towers may be owned by one or more companies, however it is required by law they be leased to competitors.
CAN you picture 3 towers side by side, how eye sore would that be? | |
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Re: How 'unlimited'said by CatchingSpy:The towers may be owned by one or more companies, however it is required by law they be leased to competitors. CAN you picture 3 towers side by side, how eye sore would that be? That's right and METRO PCS means just that METRO. Look at Detroit. Calling area is a joke. Go outside the "metro" area too far and your SOL. That's why MPCS can charge half the price for less then 1/10th the footprint. If they were "serious" about providing service, they would rent the tower space.. Oh wait.. then they would have to charge more.. Nope.. not going to happen.. yet. As a user of Sprint and the data portion for a couple years now, unlimited means just that. Without going into specifics, I blow the 5GB cap away in 2 weeks. Sprint has not every sent me a "stop it" letter. | |
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to CatchingSpy
You might want to look around you a bit more. Clusters of cell towers are all over the place:
Cell towers are usually owned by one of the major carriers or a tower leasing company, but there is no requirement to "share".
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Re: How 'unlimited'That is disguesting... | |
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Re: How 'unlimited'That is nationwide. | |
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Second line !How much to add a second line ? Because if its $20 or less , Im heading over to sprint. I will resell my voyagers on ebay after the verizon disconnect fee. | |
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Re: Second line !Answered my own question , went to web chat with a rep. They don't allow another phone on plan.
If they could give me it for $125 with 2 phones I would jump on it in a heartbeat. Other then that I see no need. | |
| | | jester121 Premium Member join:2003-08-09 Lake Zurich, IL |
jester121
Premium Member
2008-Feb-28 11:22 am
Re: Second line !Wouldn't that be like smuggling a friend in under your jacket while visiting a buffet restaurant? | |
| | | | N3OGHYo Soy Col. "Bat" Guano Premium Member join:2003-11-11 Philly burbs |
N3OGH
Premium Member
2008-Feb-28 11:45 am
Re: Second line !Did somebody say, buffet? | |
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to jester121
said by jester121:Wouldn't that be like smuggling a friend in under your jacket while visiting a buffet restaurant? Nope it be like paying for 2 people. Paying what 2 people would expect to pay for a decent dinner | |
| | | | | jester121 Premium Member join:2003-08-09 Lake Zurich, IL |
Re: Second line !said by BosstonesOwn:said by jester121:Wouldn't that be like smuggling a friend in under your jacket while visiting a buffet restaurant? Nope it be like paying for 2 people. Paying what 2 people would expect to pay for a decent dinner Right... I'm pretty sure most buffets charge per head; you don't get a discount for bringing more mouths in the door. Sprint's actually giving a tiny discount if you bring mouths (and fingers I guess, for text service) in the door with you. | |
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Re: Second line !"Buffet" and "decent dinner" do not belong in the same sentence. Probably not even the same paragraph. | |
| | | | | | | RVAguy Premium Member join:2006-01-05 Richmond, VA |
RVAguy
Premium Member
2008-Feb-28 7:01 pm
Re: Second line !Normally I would agree, however there is an exception - Cape May Cafe in Disney. They have an excellent Buffet for $25 per head. | |
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to BosstonesOwn
said by BosstonesOwn:Answered my own question , went to web chat with a rep. They don't allow another phone on plan. If they could give me it for $125 with 2 phones I would jump on it in a heartbeat. Other then that I see no need. What I would suggest is 1 phone is EVERYTHING. The other, voice only for 30 bucks, add unlimited text, 5 bucks more. Still, 2 phones at 135 bucks, unlimited voice is still a much better deal. Just give it some time, maybe someone will see this as a win/win and make the move. Regardless, the CS is improving to what I gather. I've had Sprint for 9 years and right now have 4 phones. They have taken care of every little issue I've called (mostly billing thanks to my teenage daugther ) but give it some time and less the AHole ceo for vzw does next. I need some popcorn.. this is gonna get good | |
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Not strong enoughThey need to undercut competitors. They should have an $80/month voice and then option to upgrade to $100/month unlimited everything.
BTW, the deal doesn't include PAM/DUN tethering.
This isn't going to attract millions of customers. An $80/month unlimited voice might. | |
| | axus join:2001-06-18 Washington, DC |
axus
Member
2008-Feb-28 12:26 pm
Re: Not strong enoughAgreed. If I used cell phone data, I'd think $100 for both was a great deal, but since I only use voice, it doesn't look so hot. | |
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Luker3
Anon
2008-Feb-28 11:13 am
EconomicsFirst, they should have an unlimited $80, that would seal the deal for them.
Second, The $100 price is a deal. Simple economics says that they will make alot of money off of this. But we all know it isn't quite that ideal.
Besides an unlimited anything plan for $100 is more appeasing to customers that don't need all that voice because of the other services | |
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MAybeIt might attract more then most know if the extra line isn't outragous | |
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Re: MAybeno extra line here. You can't add one. Or at least thats what they told me this morning. | |
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GlobalMindDomino Dude, POWER Systems Guy Premium Member join:2001-10-29 Indianapolis, IN |
Sounds interesting..I wonder if the "data" inclusion would include tethering the phone to a laptop.
I'll have to check that out. | |
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Re: Sounds interesting..No, it doesn't. | |
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to GlobalMind
said by GlobalMind:I wonder if the "data" inclusion would include tethering the phone to a laptop. I'll have to check that out. EVDO no. Bet a 3G phone still works but only at 230k. I don't have PAM on my 3G vision phone and it still dials #777 and I'm online. Granted, it's not fast but it works in a pinch. | |
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FFH5 Premium Member join:2002-03-03 Tavistock NJ |
FFH5
Premium Member
2008-Feb-28 11:15 am
Financials killing them and losing customers as well» money.cnn.com/news/newsf ··· UNE5.htmSprint Nextel Corp. posted a dramatic $29.5 billion fourth-quarter loss even as it unveiled an unlimited wireless plan in a bid to stem the flood of subscriber defections.
The Overland Park, Kan., company also borrowed $2.5 billion under its revolving credit facility to increase financial flexibility, suspended dividend payments and admitted that business conditions are deteriorating, more difficult than expected and unlikely to improve soon.
Chief Executive Dan Hesse told analysts in a Thursday conference call. "We are taking the customer defection issue seriously." The company expects the turnover rate to rise 20 to 30 basis points in the first quarter as it loses another 1.2 million post-paid subscribers, and the rate isn't expected to improve in the second quarter, said acting Chief Financial Officer William Arendt. The loss of 1.2 million in the first quarter is roughly equal to the total loss Sprint had in all of 2007.
The news sent Sprint shares down as much as 13% to $7.75, their lowest levels since October 2002. The stock recently traded at $8.30, down 7.3% from its close Wednesday of $8.95. Unlimited calling plans won't save Sprint. Especially since AT&T and Verizon matched them. Sprint may have to merge with someone to stay alive. | |
| | DvST8 join:2000-03-08 Staten Island, NY 1 edit |
DvST8
Member
2008-Feb-28 11:19 am
Re: Financials killing them and losing customers as wellsaid by FFH5:» money.cnn.com/news/newsf ··· UNE5.htmSprint Nextel Corp. posted a dramatic $29.5 billion fourth-quarter loss even as it unveiled an unlimited wireless plan in a bid to stem the flood of subscriber defections.
The Overland Park, Kan., company also borrowed $2.5 billion under its revolving credit facility to increase financial flexibility, suspended dividend payments and admitted that business conditions are deteriorating, more difficult than expected and unlikely to improve soon.
Chief Executive Dan Hesse told analysts in a Thursday conference call. "We are taking the customer defection issue seriously." The company expects the turnover rate to rise 20 to 30 basis points in the first quarter as it loses another 1.2 million post-paid subscribers, and the rate isn't expected to improve in the second quarter, said acting Chief Financial Officer William Arendt. The loss of 1.2 million in the first quarter is roughly equal to the total loss Sprint had in all of 2007.
The news sent Sprint shares down as much as 13% to $7.75, their lowest levels since October 2002. The stock recently traded at $8.30, down 7.3% from its close Wednesday of $8.95. Unlimited calling plans won't save Sprint. Especially since AT&T and Verizon matched them. Sprint may have to merge with someone to stay alive. AT&T and Verzion is voice only for $99. Sprint's is Voice, Data, GPS, TXT, TV and Direct Connect (2-way). | |
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Re: Financials killing them and losing customers as wellI think your math might be wrong 99 + 20 -5 is not 94 | |
| | | boast join:2005-09-03 Miami, FL |
to DvST8
and T-mobile? | |
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to FFH5
Sprint will easily stay alive, they may just become a smaller company. They are a $40B company, bigger than Intel, Apple, Coca-Cola and Disney. Even if they lose millions more customers, they'll still likely be bigger than these companies. | |
| | | ••••••• | | Matt3All noise, no signal. Premium Member join:2003-07-20 Jamestown, NC |
Matt3 to FFH5
Premium Member
2008-Feb-28 12:19 pm
to FFH5
A $29.5 BILLION 4th QUARTER loss?
How do you lose $30 billion dollars in a single quarter? Wow. | |
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hmmmm to FFH5
Anon
2008-Feb-28 1:53 pm
to FFH5
AT&T & Verizon didn't match, it was Sprint's idea first, Verizon and T-mobile just jumped on the idea faster...which is the nature of the business of course...but to make Sprint's pot more sweeter, thier plan includes unlimited text (SMS & MMS), voice, GPS, Sprint Music, Sprint TV, Internet browsing on IDEN & CDMA networks...(IDEN = Push to talk) on all phones including Blackberry's whereas Verizon's unlimited plan doesn't even include Blackberry's...please do more research on the plan before you offcer suggestions on the company's next steps...it is indeed a great deal for the variety of services it provides... | |
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evilghost Premium Member join:2003-11-22 Springville, AL |
evilghost
Premium Member
2008-Feb-28 11:19 am
Yay for Sprint.Do we also get unlimited sub-par customer service or do we get still get the boot for billing incompetence? | |
| mike417Follow Me join:2001-02-25 Philadelphia, PA 1 edit |
mike417
Member
2008-Feb-28 11:19 am
AT&T 's Unlimited Plan (See additional Lines)Family Rate Plan Details
Monthly Cost for first two lines $199.99 Additional lines $99.99 per line Anytime Minutes Unlimited Night & Weekend minutes Unlimited Mobile to Mobile minutes Unlimited Long Distance $0.00 Roaming Charges $0.00 Additional minutes $.00 per minute One-time activation fee $36.00 Additional lines (2-5) activation fee $26.00 Contract length 2 years
Wow that is way too much!!!!! | |
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Mr Matt
Member
2008-Feb-28 11:27 am
What 's the big deal.I would like to see Verizon offer the same plan that Sprint offered in January of 2003. That is when I signed up with Sprint. They offered the following plan with Two Handsets for $85.00 per month: 1)2000 Minutes (For most customers 2000 Minutes is almost unlimited) 2)Unlimited Text Messaging and Picture uploading and downloading. 3)Unlimited Web Access 4)Use either handset as a Modem at 1X Speed. 5)Unlimited PCS to PCS Calling The cost to add unlimited night and weekends for as many handsets as were on the plan was $10.00 per month. 6)To add unlimited roaming cost $5.00 per month per handset. So for $105.00 per month plus crap charges, I had the above service on two handsets. I had to give up the plan because Sprint did not provide a signal at my new residence. I had to switch to Verizon. So why are the new plans such a big deal! | |
| Netgear CM500 TP-Link Archer C7 Obihai OBi200
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Sprint sufferingChief Executive Officer Dan Hesse, who was hired in December to turn Sprint Nextel around, said the quarter was more difficult than he had expected and it could be some time before proposed operational changes have any effect.
On top of losing almost 700,000 valuable customers who have annual contracts during the fourth quarter, the company predicted it would lose another 1.2 million during the first quarter and would see additional losses in the second quarter.
sprint is going to have to do way better then there $90-$100 a month unlimited plans if it expects to survive.
there are roughly 4 different providers in this area that offer unlimited everything for about $60 a month some of these carriers are now throwing in upto 200 min. a month to call other countries. good luck sprint.
imo sprint needs to do unlimited at $60/local calling area a month and recoupe on roaming if it expects to live | |
| wifi4milezBig Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace join:2004-08-07 New York, NY |
I assume Blackbery is extra.....If this included Blackberry data, then this would truly be a great deal as every business would buy it. Unfortunately, I am 99% sure that BB data plans still need to be layered on top of this. | |
| | ••••••• | timcuthBraves Fan Premium Member join:2000-09-18 Pelham, AL |
timcuth
Premium Member
2008-Feb-28 11:42 am
Its still too much for meI have a three phone family - $297 a month is not close to being affordable, for me. Maybe if it was just me...
Tim | |
| WeSRT4 join:2000-11-20 Mobile, AL |
WeSRT4
Member
2008-Feb-28 11:42 am
Too little, too lateThe latest results mark the end for Sprint. Watch for a them to start selling off starting with the Nextel network. | |
| | 60127178 (banned)K.U. Sweet 16 join:2001-02-15 Wichita, KS |
60127178 (banned)
Member
2008-Feb-28 12:57 pm
Re: Too little, too lateThat would be a god-send to what business customers Nextel has left. Sprint purchased Nextel then started to transform the company into what they thought it should be. Nextel was just fine at doing what they did best (except text messaging ) provide top notch customer service to high value customers. When they went to Sprint it seemed like they did not care at all that there were businesses' paying thousands of dollars a month for many lines, just treated them like any other Sprint customer. | |
| | | Wills9 join:2001-01-03 Port Charlotte, FL |
Wills9
Member
2008-Feb-28 2:20 pm
Re: Too little, too lateI guess it depends on where you are. Nextel sucked before Sprint and they still suck after Sprint. We were actually hoping Sprint would unscrew them down here.
Still get dropped calls (which I call and complain on each and every time), direct connect is getting worse each day, I'm lucky to get text messages and if I do it's usually 8 hours from when the person sent them.
Why won't Sprint cancel me for being a high maintenance users like they have other people? | |
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jjoshua Premium Member join:2001-06-01 Scotch Plains, NJ |
jjoshua
Premium Member
2008-Feb-28 11:43 am
Unlimited Everything** Everything does not include fees, taxes, unfees, and surcharges. | |
| | •••• | Netgear CM500 TP-Link Archer C7 Obihai OBi200
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what the big guys dont/wont want to offerbelow is one example what one of the carriers offer here. of course the downside to some would be roaming
$40 Unlimited Everything and receive a $10 discount for each additional line up to 4 lines No Contracts No need to share your minutes or texts It's unlimited everything for everyone in the family!! | |
| neufuse join:2006-12-06 James Creek, PA |
neufuse
Member
2008-Feb-28 12:00 pm
ha...make it unlimited talk for $50 and you have a deal that would get a lot of switchers to sprint... but gawd $99? if they said no to verizon they definatly are gona say no to sprint too | |
| krichek join:2004-02-15 Roseville, CA |
krichek
Member
2008-Feb-28 12:07 pm
Umm...Seems to be some confusion here as Sprint's data plan IS unlimited. By the way, if tethering is a make or break deal for you, just get a phone that doesn't report it as tethering. I burn 20-40GB's a month at least (tethered right now in fact) tethering with my Mogul, and did it for years before using my 6700. I've never been billed for an overage and only have the $15 data plan.
I think it's a decent deal actually, especially when you consider that Sprint is pretty good about offering a number of different discounts. | |
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Ryan Larsen
Anon
2008-Feb-28 12:16 pm
Unlimited is not a new thing...Unlimited / Flat-Rate wireless plans are not a new thing to the industry
The first Unlimited Wireless Voice Plan that I am aware of started around December of 2002 when AT&T Wireless launched their new GSM network and were trying to encourage users to move away from their legacy TDMA network. The plan was offered at $99.99 per month for Unlimited Wireless Minutes. Both myself personally and a few others I know remain on the plan to date. Secondly, Sprint / Nextel had been offering an Unlimited Voice Plan on the Nextel network about the last 2 Years and only recently stopped offering the plan.
There is a lot of speculation about the impact of these plans in the industry and my personal assessment of the situation is that these plans are being offered more as a media stunt to get attention and will most likely discontinue within the next few months. Wireless Service Providers thrive on people going over their monthly minutes or only using a fraction of what they are paying for and they just love pay-per-use features like text messaging
Billing a customer $0.20 per text message to a user that did not even solicit is a gold mine. I could go on for hours about this
Only a select group of consumers can rationalize spending $100 per month for their monthly service. According to the Aberdeen Group Report from June of 2007 called Wireless Mobility Expense Optimization corporations are spending an average of $124.50 per month per user and would be spending 40% less per month if they were managing their services more closely. If corporations were spending the 40% less or $72.40 per user per month, increasing to the $99.99 unlimited plan would increase their monthly spend by at least $42.00 per user (includes tax which equals about 15% depending on the region). That does not even include a data plans or email which would add another $45.00 per month. As an example I personally am moving over to the AT&T Unlimited Plan and will be including the email and data plan which means my bill will be about $170.00 per month which is lot of cash for the average consumer or business. The only way I can justify this much is because I use on average at least 3,500 minutes per month, I spend a great deal of time outside of the office and I am addicted to talking on my phone.
~Ryan
www.urban-tech.com | |
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Doseone
Anon
2008-Feb-28 3:20 pm
Re: Unlimited is not a new thing...Actually there was a company in Cleveland in 2000 called North Coast PCS, and it offered unlimited Text and Voice and internets..
it is now called Revol, and is expanding quickly across the midwest, the downside is that you have to buy a $300 phone | |
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to Ryan Larsen
Trust me, this plan is not going to end because Cellular South has been doing Unlimited for a while now. The only issue was roaming. However, a few months back they started offering a plan called True Unlimited which was basically what Sprint is offering...only a little cheaper. 79.99 per month and 99.99 for unlimited PLUS data plans.
Small carriers like Cricket and others have been making a killing off of these unlimited type of deals and now the big boys see the benefit. This is more than a stunt. People are moving away from landlines everyday and this is the final step needed to bring in a massive amount of customer and cut the landline ties for good. | |
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texans20 Premium Member join:2002-09-28 Texas! |
texans20
Premium Member
2008-Feb-28 12:25 pm
Corporate DiscountsSprint offers discounts to almost everybody, depending on where you work. For instance, I get a 25% discount at my job. That right there brings the price down to $75, very competitive. | |
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lefty1
Member
2008-Feb-28 1:34 pm
Re: Corporate Discountssaid by texans20:Sprint offers discounts to almost everybody, depending on where you work. For instance, I get a 25% discount at my job. That right there brings the price down to $75, very competitive. I don't know about Sprint, but Verizon & AT&T don't allow their unlimited plans to be used in conjunction with discounts. | |
| | bmahan Premium Member join:2006-09-02 Saint Paul, MN |
to texans20
On the Sprint website, this plan is actually referred to as the 'Simply Everything' plan -- whereas the 'Unlimited Everything' plan included unlimited access with a Broadband card on your laptop as well as all phone services for $149.99/month. I believe that the Unlimited Everything 'deal' was supposed to be available until the end of April. When I looked into this (Unlimited Everything) deal, there were a couple things that made it a no-go for me...and it appears that these issues also apply to the 'Simply Everything' ($99.99) plan as well. The first thing was that I could not use my Corporate Discount (18%) due to the fine-print which reads "Not combinable with other discounts." See the details at the bottom of this page: » www.sprintspecialoffers. ··· hingPlanSecondly, you cannot add multiple phones to this plan (i.e. no family plan). The price is PER LINE if you want all of the same features on each. I currently have a family plan with 3 phones on it plus a broadband card. I could have put one phone + broadband card on the 'Unlimited Everything' plan ($149.99) but would have had to start a new plan for the other two remaining phones -- which made it more expensive than what I am currently paying per month. Obviously, the math didn't work out for me. | |
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