Sprint and Best Buy Team Up to Offer Students One Year of Free Talk, Text, and Data With Phone Purchase

MacRumors · Nov 18, 2013

Sprint and Best Buy have begun offering a deal that offers eligible students 12 months of free talk, text, and 1 GB of data when purchasing a phone and an Unlimited, My Way plan.

Sprint's Unlimited, My Way plan is normally priced at $70 per month for smartphones and $50 per month for basic phones, and includes 1 GB of data that can be upgraded to unlimited for an additional $10.

Under the terms of the deal, phones must be purchased at a "Student Offer Price," from Best Buy which does not include contract subsidies. A 16 GB iPhone 5s must be purchased for $700, while a 16 GB iPhone 5c is $600. The iPhone 4s is also included for $500 and an activation fee of $36 is required.

Students must be enrolled in a U.S.-based elementary, high school, college, university, or other accredited institute and will need to verify their student status within 14 days of purchasing a phone at Best Buy.

Best Buy is also offering another 12 months of free service to students for each phone line added to the account on a two-year contract. The deal will be available throughout the holidays, from November 18 to January 4.

AT&T is also offering a holiday discount, giving customers a 50 percent discount off of the standard retail price of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c with a two-year contract. With the discount, the 16 GB iPhone 5s is priced at $100 while the 16 GB iPhone 5c is $50.

Article Link: Sprint and Best Buy Team Up to Offer Students One Year of Free Talk, Text, and Data With Phone Purchase

garylapointe · Nov 18, 2013

So buy the iPhone 5s for $700 and get a year of service for free?
That's not bad, but it's a big up front cost...

But are you still in a contract?

The $100 off is probably a better deal for most (many) students.

I can see the elementary students lining up for this deal!

Gary

jclo · Nov 18, 2013

garylapointe said:
So buy the iPhone 5s for $700 and get a year of service for free?
That's not bad, but it's a big up front cost...

But are you still in a contract?

The $100 off is probably a better deal for most (many) students.

I can see the elementary students lining up for this deal!

Gary

Nope, no contract with the outright purchase. You can terminate the line after a year or continue to pay Sprint's 70/month charge for the service.

seecoolguy · Nov 18, 2013

jclo said:
Nope, no contract with the outright purchase. You can terminate the line after a year or continue to pay Sprint's 70/month charge for the service.

so you could take the phone over to Ting (sprint mvno provider)...

HappyDude20 · Nov 18, 2013

Would there be any way to take the purchased iPhone 5s to Verizon without hassle? I ask only cause I assume iPhones now allow for multiple carriers, as oppose to the iPhone 4 days when you needed to purchase a phone for a specific company.

tasset · Nov 18, 2013

Buyer beware. That's a stiff check to write considering that Sprint does not unlock iPhones even when you are out of contract. AT&T and TMobile do, and Verizon iPhones come unlocked day 1. So if you buy, prepare to stay with Sprint for longer than one year or your iPhone will become a glorified iPod Touch.

kaielement · Nov 18, 2013

HappyDude20 said:
Would there be any way to take the purchased iPhone 5s to Verizon without hassle? I ask only cause I assume iPhones now allow for multiple carriers, as oppose to the iPhone 4 days when you needed to purchase a phone for a specific company.

Not really sprint phones are all locked and they don't do unlocks on iPhone.

wikiverse · Nov 18, 2013

$70/mo!!

That is insane. I pay about half that for unlimited talk, txt and 4GB/month of data in Australia. No contracts. BYO handset.

Also, there is no such thing as a 'subsidised' phone. You pay for every phone through the high monthly data/call rates, roaming charges and excess usage over 2 years on a contract.

In many cases you end up paying more than buying a phone and using a no contract carrier.

As a comparison, if I were on a similar $70/m sprint plan with $10/m extra data, I would be paying $40/month more. If I were given a phone free, I would end up paying $960 for the handset. Without the extra data, I would be paying $720 for the phone and I would get 3GB/mo less data. If pay more for the handset if there is a monthly 'handset charge' or down payment.

There is no such thing as a subsidised phone. You always end up paying full retail price or more.

iMikeT · Nov 18, 2013

It sounds like the free year pays for most of the cost of the unsubsidized phone, which isn't entirely a bad deal. The only caveat is having to be on contract for another year. I just hope the phone is unlockable after the contract ends.

Personally, I'm looking for any option available to me as soon at my contract with AT&T ends in a year. T-Mobile is looking like my best option but Sprint is looking like a good candidate now and it's a plus as I can qualify for this.

joeshmo2010 · Nov 18, 2013

iMikeT said:
It sounds like the free year pays for most of the cost of the unsubsidized phone, which isn't entirely a bad deal. The only caveat is having to be on contract for another year. I just hope the phone is unlockable after the contract ends.

Personally, I'm looking for any option available to me as soon at my contract with AT&T ends in a year. T-Mobile is looking like my best option but Sprint is looking like a good candidate now and it's a plus as I can qualify for this.

Sprint does not unlock any of their phones for domestic use. Ever.

Asuriyan · Nov 18, 2013

Great! A partnership between two of my least favorite companies! Now they can go f@*& themselves together.

Shellbo6901 · Nov 18, 2013

ugh wish you could get the 32 or 64gb iphone for half off, or even just 100 off (L

Tiger8 · Nov 18, 2013

Bad Deal!

Here is why:

iPhone 5s cost over two years:
Assuming $70 per month after the first year plus taxes and fees: $80

$699 + $36 + 12 x $80 = $1,965

If you go for an unlocked phone and use an MVNO (Such as Airvoice Wireless, unlimited talk text and 1 GB data + $10 long distance credit for $40):

$650 + 24 x $40 = $1,610

And this is not taking into consideration resale value of the unlocked iPhone is significantly higher than Sprint

Sprint iPhone does not work on any other network, not even Ting

Agent OrangeZ · Nov 18, 2013

Tiger8 said:
Here is why:

iPhone 5s cost over two years:
Assuming $70 per month after the first year plus taxes and fees: $80

$699 + $36 + 12 x $80 = $1,965

If you go for an unlocked phone and use an MVNO (Such as Airvoice Wireless, unlimited talk text and 1 GB data + $10 long distance credit for $40):

$650 + 24 x $40 = $1,610

And this is not taking into consideration resale value of the unlocked iPhone is significantly higher than Sprint

Sprint iPhone does not work on any other network, not even Ting

I was just getting ready to post something like this... I pay only $41/mo for my $45 Straight Talk plan...

kas23 · Nov 18, 2013

This is completely insane. No student is going to have those costs available up front and it's perhaps even more insane for a parent to buy a $700 cellphone for their kid. I have a better ideas; here's my 1 year old iPhone, son.

Tiger8 · Nov 18, 2013

1080p said:
I was just getting ready to post something like this... I pay only $41/mo for my $45 Straight Talk plan...

How do you get that? ebay? I use ebay sometimes for net10 and get a discount

Don't you LOVE the freedom of prepaid? I broke even after terminating my contract and paying ETF in 4 months, and been enjoying the savings!

Agent OrangeZ · Nov 18, 2013

Tiger8 said:
How do you get that? ebay? I use ebay sometimes for net10 and get a discount

Don't you LOVE the freedom of prepaid? I broke even after terminating my contract and paying ETF in 4 months, and been enjoying the savings!

crazygametime.com

Also a good place to get discounted XBox Live.

Urban Joe · Nov 18, 2013

Thanks

tasset said:
Buyer beware. That's a stiff check to write considering that Sprint does not unlock iPhones even when you are out of contract. AT&T and TMobile do, and Verizon iPhones come unlocked day 1. So if you buy, prepare to stay with Sprint for longer than one year or your iPhone will become a glorified iPod Touch.

Thanks for the heads up...good looking out !!

skier777 · Nov 18, 2013

Virgin Mobile

Virgin Mobile which run on Sprint's network is comparable in long term cost to this.

garylapointe · Nov 19, 2013

wikiverse said:
That is insane. I pay about half that for unlimited talk, txt and 4GB/month of data in Australia. No contracts. BYO handset.

That's great. But this is an offer in the US. You've comparing oranges to cars.

I assume I can't switch to your plan and get those features/prices in the US? I'm not going to move to save on my cell bill.

Gary

Tiger8 · Nov 19, 2013

1080p said:
crazygametime.com

Also a good place to get discounted XBox Live.

Thanks a lot! I bookmarked it and will keep an eye. They have Net10 cards too.

Technarchy · Nov 19, 2013

Better have verified LTE coverage and lots of it or else it's Sprint 3G, which is bad enough to make you beg for dial up.

nburwell · Nov 19, 2013

So instead of blowing all their money on textbooks, college students can now blow all their money on a brand new iPhone instead. Totally makes sense.

joebarnard31 · Nov 19, 2013

CDMA iPhone 5 and 5s are factory unlocked for all CDMA networks in the US

HappyDude20 said:
Would there be any way to take the purchased iPhone 5s to Verizon without hassle? I ask only cause I assume iPhones now allow for multiple carriers, as oppose to the iPhone 4 days when you needed to purchase a phone for a specific company.

Yes you can. The iPhone 5s for sprint comes unlocked for CDMA networks such as Verizon in the US. I just switched over one of my friends the other day from sprint to verizon. It just required a Verizon sim and activation. No hassle.

monsterdustin1 · Nov 19, 2013

Ridiculious

It's more expensive than their prepaid plans and cost more upfront.

Since it's not prepaid service where the "fees" are wrapped into the flat monthly fee, the user WILL be charge post-paid taxes and fees.

And they HAVE to pay full price for a model on the list. One of the cheapest ones is $250! The same model is on eBay for like $80 or LESS.

It's simple. Their targeting the word "free" to get people into the stores. When students get their and realize they would rather spend their last $50 on a bag of weed or a case of beer, they'll apply for financing from best buy and best buy will wrap them into a "walk out the door" paying nothing, but in the long term the student pays the same as any other post paid and WAY MORE than prepaid carriers with the same unlimited talk and text and less data.

The numbers just dont match up....

Best Buy and Sprint team up to offer "Free Service" to College Students. Offering more expensive than Sprint's own plans!

http://harvestcellular.net/best-buy-sprint-student-promotion-free-service/

Sprint and Best Buy Team Up to Offer Students One Year of Free Talk, Text, and Data With Phone Purchase

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