nTelos Wireless to Launch iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 with $50 Discounts on April 20 [Updated: Other Carriers]

MacRumors · Apr 4, 2012

Regional U.S. carrier nTelos Wireless today announced that it will begin offering the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 beginning on April 20. The carrier will be offering the devices at a $50 discount relative to pricing through Apple and the major carriers, with iPhone 4S priced at $149.99/$249.99/$349.99 and the iPhone 4 priced at $49.99.

"As a wireless service provider well-known for delivering the best value in wireless, we're pleased to offer the amazing new iPhone 4S to our customers," said Jim Hyde, president and CEO for nTelos Wireless. "iPhone 4S offers an abundance of new features, and with our industry-leading, nationwide smartphone plans, customers can now enjoy the nation's best networks for less."

nTelos is a regional carrier based in Waynesboro, Virginia with over 400,000 customers. The carrier offers CDMA service in Virginia and West Virginia, as well as portions of Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky, with nationwide service provided through partnerships with Sprint and Verizon.

nTelos offers two individual plans for iPhone customers: a $79.99 plan offering 600 minutes with unlimited messaging and data, and a $99.99 plan with unlimited voice, messaging, and data. The unlimited data on both plans does include a soft cap at 5 GB, after which the carrier will throttle data speeds.

C Spire was the first regional U.S. carrier to offer the iPhone last November, moving to offer $50 discounts relative to standard pricing as of last month.

Update: Alaska Communications has also announced that it will begin offering the iPhone on April 20. The carrier operates a CDMA network with approximately 120,000 customers.

Alaska will offer the iPhone at the same price points as other regional carriers, coming in at $50 off the standard pricing through Apple and the major carriers.

Update 2: Appalachian Wireless, a small CDMA carrier based in eastern Kentucky, has also announced that it will begin offering the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 on April 20 at the same price points.

Article Link: nTelos Wireless to Launch iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 with $50 Discounts on April 20 [Updated: Other Carriers]

Marcus-k · Apr 4, 2012

Why call it unlimited data if it has a cap at 5GB? Why not just sell it as a 5GB plan? There 5GB "unlimited" is less then Swedens standard limited which is like 8GB for 20$ a month.

acidfast7 · Apr 4, 2012

Two-year contract.

Another $2000 iPhone plan.

Better emphasize the $50 upfront savings.

LOL

FrauHasSpoken · Apr 4, 2012

Wow great deal on the 4. Might pick one up.

Will use the extra savings for bud later that day.

SFStateStudent · Apr 4, 2012

How do I break my agreement with AT&T? LMAO...

AustinIllini · Apr 4, 2012

Marcus-k said:
Why call it unlimited data if it has a cap at 5GB? Why not just sell it as a 5GB plan? There 5GB "unlimited" is less then Swedens standard limited which is like 8GB for 20$ a month.

From what I understand, Verizon does this as well. I wonder if that is a term of their partnership.

----------

acidfast7 said:
Two-year contract.

Another $2000 iPhone plan.

Better emphasize the $50 upfront savings.

LOL

How much should an iPhone plan cost?

FrauHasSpoken · Apr 4, 2012

acidfast7 said:
Two-year contract.

Another $2000 iPhone plan.

Better emphasize the $50 upfront savings.

LOL

Now that smartphones will dominate, you best believe you will continue to shell out thousands over the years for cell service.

mactactic · Apr 4, 2012

Never again

Never going to pay more than 50 $ ever again for a plan , Straight Talk works perfect for me.

gpat · Apr 4, 2012

AustinIllini said:
From what I understand, Verizon does this as well. I wonder if that is a term of their partnership.

----------

How much should an iPhone plan cost?

Here in Italy, you can get an iPhone 4S for "free" (zero upfront) on an about $45 monthly contract, with 400 minutes, 100 texts and 2GB. 30 months contract, but oh well.

Frobozz · Apr 4, 2012

I could be wrong but I don't think they are quite comparing oranges to oranges. The other plans, which are more expensive, allow nationwide calling. A regional operator does not. However, it's becoming increasingly clear that people don't talk on their phones. They use data by messaging and performing lots of other app based tasks. I, for one, barely use the "phone" on my phone so a regional carrier where you could save $20 a month ($240 a year) might actually make sense.

Sabenth · Apr 4, 2012

well 3 in the uk £40 a month 2 years unlimited data all you can eat and thus far i have had a lot of data to my hearts content of and its 2000 txts to any network and 5000 3 to 3 mins and txts but the data limit alone is worth it

acidfast7 · Apr 4, 2012

shouldn't be more than $15/month (or you should at least have the option for something cheaper).

we have one that's 9.99€/mo including all taxes with no minimum contract time. even the 16.99€/mo is a good deal with 200min/200SMS/500MB per month.

not only that, but you can switch it between whatever device you want to use (iPad/iPhone/surfstick)

you guys get excited about $50 off at the front.

i just don't understand it.

habe · Apr 4, 2012

mactactic said:
Never going to pay more than 50 $ ever again for a plan , Straight Talk works perfect for me.

Mactactic,

After researching ST, I was think about switching over but, I have seen numerous posts online where people say that the ST agreement does not allow streaming data.

Have you ever had any issues streaming radio or video with Straight Talk? If so, no warnings, etc?

habe

terraphantm · Apr 4, 2012

acidfast7 said:
Two-year contract.

Another $2000 iPhone plan.

Better emphasize the $50 upfront savings.

LOL

You're going to be paying that $2000 no matter what phone you have (perhaps a little less for a dumb phone).

acidfast7 · Apr 4, 2012

terraphantm said:
You're going to be paying that $2000 no matter what phone you have (perhaps a little less for a dumb phone).

not really.

you can buy an 4S outright for 629 and run it for 10/mo for 24 mo. Actually the 16.99/mo above it quite good.

or I can buy a S2 for 400 and use the 16.99/mo plan.

or I can buy a 50 dumbphone outright and use the 10/mo plan.

I don't see why people get excited about a 2.5% savings (front page news at MR?)

2.5% = 50/2000.

applesith · Apr 4, 2012

haha they called it the new iPhone 4S. It's mid cycle.

AustinIllini · Apr 4, 2012

Sabenth said:
well 3 in the uk £40 a month 2 years unlimited data all you can eat and thus far i have had a lot of data to my hearts content of and its 2000 txts to any network and 5000 3 to 3 mins and txts but the data limit alone is worth it

How much EU coverage do you get? Does that cost extra? The UK is a much smaller area to cover with cell service. It's like buying a cell phone in the US and only getting service in an area the size of Oregon. In that case, yes, the plans should definitely be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper in Europe.

terraphantm · Apr 4, 2012

acidfast7 said:
not really.

you can buy an 4S outright for 629 and run it for 10/mo for 24 mo. Actually the 16.99/mo above it quite good.

or I can buy a S2 for 400 and use the 16.99/mo plan.

or I can buy a 50 dumbphone outright and use the 10/mo plan.

I don't see why people get excited about a 2.5% savings (front page news at MR?)

2.5% = 50/2000.

Okay, so we should all move to the UK to save a thousand bucks or so on our cell phone plans? This post is about a US carrier, the comparisoin is going to be other US carriers. For the most part the rates are constant. The only time you get any savings is if you're grandfathered into an old plan, or if you're willing to give up a lot of coverage (e.g T-mobile)

AustinIllini · Apr 4, 2012

terraphantm said:
Okay, so we should all move to the UK to save a thousand bucks or so on our cell phone plans? This post is about a US carrier, the comparisoin is going to be other US carriers. For the most part the rates are constant. The only time you get any savings is if you're grandfathered into an old plan, or if you're willing to give up a lot of coverage (e.g T-mobile)

Just ran through a UK contract list. It looks like they cover the entirety of Europe, but to get the same data and text limits I have with VZW, it winds up costing about the same but the exchange rate makes it more expensive to have the plan in the UK.

manu chao · Apr 4, 2012

AustinIllini said:
How much EU coverage do you get? Does that cost extra? The UK is a much smaller area to cover with cell service. It's like buying a cell phone in the US and only getting service in an area the size of Oregon. In that case, yes, the plans should definitely be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper in Europe.

The total area does not matter in regard to cost per subscriber, what matters is the total area per subscriber. And once your population density gets high enough that your tower density is given not by reach but by capacity, your costs just scale linearly with subscriber (in a first approximation).

fruitycups · Apr 4, 2012

im waiting for the 5 man.. iphone 4s is old news

DJsteveSD · Apr 4, 2012

UK/Europe

we all know that the UK and Europe have much better plans and terms for the iphone than we are able to get in the US, which SUCKS! (for us since we are the the US carriers mercy)

theBB · Apr 4, 2012

manu chao said:
The total area does not matter in regard to cost per subscriber, what matters is the total area per subscriber. And once your population density gets high enough that your tower density is given not by reach but by capacity, your costs just scale linearly with subscriber (in a first approximation).

Yes, you might be right for the cost to the carrier, but value to the subscriber definitely depends on the area. If roaming costs as much as two monthly fees when I am on vacation for a week in a different EU state, then the upfront fees are just an illusion.

acidfast7 · Apr 4, 2012

DJsteveSD said:
we all know that the UK and Europe have much better plans and terms for the iphone than we are able to get in the US, which SUCKS! (for us since we are the the US carriers mercy)

Pre-iPhone, the plans/rates were much better in the US than elsewhere. However, that has really changed. In addition, I don't understand why you guys accept it.

Mike Oxard · Apr 4, 2012

theBB said:
Yes, you might be right for the cost to the carrier, but value to the subscriber definitely depends on the area. If roaming costs as much as two monthly fees when I am on vacation for a week in a different EU state, then the upfront fees are just an illusion.

It's easy to get a local carrier sim card in other european countries so the call cost come back to normal.

nTelos Wireless to Launch iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 with $50 Discounts on April 20 [Updated: Other Carriers]

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