Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,278
30,339



sprint_logo.jpg



Bloomberg reports that Sprint will indeed begin offering the iPhone next month as had been previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, seeking to set itself apart from AT&T and Verizon by offering unlimited data plans for the device. The carrier is said to be launching the iPhone 5 in mid-October under its new deal with Apple.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) will offer Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s iPhone next month with unlimited data service plans to distinguish itself from rivals AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, plans to begin selling the device in mid-October under a deal with Apple for the next model, the iPhone 5, said the people, who wouldn't be identified because the plans aren't public. Becoming the country's only operator to offer the device with unlimited data service for a flat fee may help Sprint draw customers from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which already carry the phone, they said.
The report also notes that Sprint has postponed the launch of a new rival 4G phone in order to accommodate preparations for the iPhone's debut.

Unlimited data is a significant selling point for Sprint, which offers a package of unlimited voice and data for $99.99 per month on several existing smartphones. Both AT&T and Verizon offered unlimited data on the iPhone when they launched the device, but both carriers have switched to tiered data plans for new customers. Existing customers who had previously signed up for unlimited data have been allowed to maintain their data plans.

Article Link: Sprint to Launch iPhone 5 with Unlimited Data Next Month
 

Pos7al

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2009
47
0
Voice/Data

I can't remember... do they offer voice and data at the same time? If this comes w/o a tether charge, I'm all Sprints.
 

PhoneI

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2008
1,629
619
I can't believe I am saying this, but I might have to take a serious look at sprint if this is true.
 

cardinalryan

macrumors 6502
Jul 1, 2010
457
57
I can't remember... do they offer voice and data at the same time? If this comes w/o a tether charge, I'm all Sprints.
Hello Sprint...here I come. To me, this is even worth the disconnect fee I would have to pay to leave Verizon just to get grandfathered in.
 

oiuh151

macrumors 6502
May 18, 2011
359
0
I can't remember... do they offer voice and data at the same time? If this comes w/o a tether charge, I'm all Sprints.

No, you can't do voice and data at the same time on any CDMA network (Verizon & Sprint). You can only do voice and data at the same time on GSM networks (AT&T & T-Mobile).
 

iDisk

macrumors 6502a
Jan 2, 2010
825
0
Menlo Park, CA
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

If true, this is a game changer to help the consumers get better pricing from carriers.

Stick to your guns Sprint! Dont eliminate the unlimited data plan!
 

jimmy1984

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2010
76
0
Hopefully it makes the market more competetive. Hopefully Verizon and AT&T will lower their prices!
 

iMaconApple

macrumors 6502a
Jun 30, 2009
664
16
Sunny Diego
Sprint says "we have Unlimited data" a month later they bust a verizon move..:rolleyes: not going to last long I bet. let's see what happens:D

Title of this should be.(sprint to launch iPhone 5 unlimited data then next month gone) :D
 

Pos7al

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2009
47
0
Thank you. I remembered the GSM/CDMA bit, but was unsure about Sprint. Thanks for clearing it up.

This is a tough call. I love retaining data at all times, even when on the phone. Who knows when you will be in a debate with someone about when 'Whomp there it is' came out.

No, you can't do voice and data at the same time on any CDMA network (Verizon & Sprint). You can only do voice and data at the same time on GSM networks (AT&T & T-Mobile).
 

jmcrutch

macrumors regular
Jul 27, 2010
249
79
Yeah. They'll offer it for 3-4 months until they figured they've gotten all the switchers they're going to get, then they'll resort to the tiered data plans like the other carriers.

Nothing new to see here. Move along.
 

mrfoof82

macrumors 6502a
May 26, 2010
577
15
Lawton, OK
So did AT&T. So did Verizon. Will it last?

This.

Sprint is doing this so anyone who currently uses an iPhone on AT&T or Verizon will consider Sprint. That's it. This is probably going to be offered for less than a year, simply as a part of a customer acquisition strategy.
 

Scottological

macrumors member
Sep 8, 2008
75
0
Denver, CO
I sincerely doubt that both AT&T and Verizon switched away from unlimited data because iPhone users were using too much. They saw a profit could be made peddling tiered data and decided to go for it.

Sprint's move is a competitive one, and a far-sighted one. While they very well may go to tiered data after some initial promotional period, they will have gained millions of new customers and the AT&T and Verizon's expense.

It's a smart move, and good on them for being foresighted enough to make it.
 

aliebel

macrumors member
Apr 2, 2010
37
0
San Antonio, TX
Let me be the first to say so long to the Sprint lovers out there....I won't miss you on my network :)

I had sprint once, figured they named them selves after the idea that once you had them you'd sprint to get another carrier so I did LOL.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.