Sprint to Launch iPhone 5 with Unlimited Data Next Month

[webpoet73]

This can't happen soon enough. I am eligible for my upgrade and can't wait to get rid of my Evo4G...

I would have went WP7 if Sprint didn't get iPhone.

Now, if Apple would hurry up and release the phone! 😎

 

[voonyx]

Android's marketshare has grown since Verizon launched the iphone 4. I don't think your point follows.

As has iOS's...that being said, what does marketshare have to do with the original statement i made which was sprint will have a hard time keeping unlimited data when/if it gets iPhone?

Can you deny that the iPhone(s) on at&t are their best selling device? Can you deny that the iPhone on verizon is its best selling device? Do you have any logical reason why an iPhone5 on sprint wouldn't be their best selling device?

Marketshare has nothing to do with a per carrier statistic. Android has high marketshare because its available on more carriers. On the carriers (at least in the US) that have both, iPhone outsells all individual android phones (and many, if not all, combined).

 

[babbit]

That is what Verizon and AT&T want you to believe. Yes, different technology with different peak speeds, but for the majority of the country, the 3G speed differences are minimal:

Now, if Apple includes WiMax in iPhone 5 (and no LTE), then Sprint will indeed have the FASTEST iPhone. But I don't see that happening.

That chart is really surprising. I live in LA and travel to NY and the San Francisco bay area quite often. My old iPhone 3GS averaged greater than 2Mbps in all those areas last year. Right now I'm on Sprint and EVDO tops out at 700-800kbps in LA and slightly lower in NY and SF.

 

[jaison13]

i hope the get iPad 3 and offer an unlimited plan. that's what i'm waiting for!!

 

[Shrink]

What problems have you had with Verizon customer service? I have been with Verizon for the past 4 years and the customer service has been great. Very friendly and helpful to me. I am not sure that I would go back to Sprint though, there billing was a disaster. Almost every month they had billing errors on my account which they never could straighten out. I probably spent more time on the phone with customer service trying to straigten out my bill then I used minutes for the month.

My contract with Verizon is up in 20 days, just in time for the iPhone 5. I like having more choices for cariers, AT&T, Verizon and now Sprint and possibily T-Mobile.

It has nothing to do with being rude - it has to do with being incompetent and extremely poorly trained. In my experience with Verizon tech support (admittedly a sample size of of maybe 30-40 calls over several years) about 20% of the techs know what they are doing. The rest couldn't change a lightbulb. They are not initially rude, but when they can't help you, and you politely ask to speak to a second level tech, the do get cranky and irritable.

Final note (and this has nothing to do with the techs): No matter when you call (6:00AM, 3:00PM, 10:00PM) the minimum wait on hold is 15-20 minutes, usually more. I once asked a tech when is a good time to call, and he said, totally without irony, that the best time to call was between 11:00PM and 5:30AM.

 

[blunti]

my only problem with sprint is that I travel to Europe a lot because of my work and cant really roam with a sprint phone.

currently using factory unlocked i4 on at&t...

 

[Geckotek]

my only problem with sprint is that I travel to Europe a lot because of my work and cant really roam with a sprint phone.

currently using factory unlocked i4 on at&t...

Thought about this...answer is...when you go to Europe take your iP4....unless you require using your US #.

 

[Mr. Gates]

my only problem with sprint is that I travel to Europe a lot because of my work and cant really roam with a sprint phone.

currently using factory unlocked i4 on at&t...

If its a world chip you'll be fine

Me too !

 

[alent1234]

The real game changer will be if the iPhone 5 has the capability to work with more than one carrier. That flips the whole American system upside down. Instead of having to pick from one of the phones your carrier decides to offer. You pick your phone and choose which carrier will provide you service. Paying full retail for the phone make perfect sense since there is no contract involved and if carrier A starts sucking you fire them and move on. Apple led the way refusing to let the phone companies monkey with the phone features and if Apple is able to pull off a true world phone piece of hardware the rest of the phone manufacturers will follow suit.

the people in the US who need the best voice service already have verizon. those who only want the iphone are on AT&T. the single people who need the cheapest service are on sprint or t-mo

no need to pay more for a cell phone than what the ipad costs

 

[sw19]

I've been with Sprint for more than 6 years. Was going to switch providers to get the new iPhone.
Glad I don't have to now. And, I get a 25% corporate discount. I'm a happy camper and, glad I waited!

 

[Reaper0bot0]

For the millionth time: ANY CDMA phone on ANY CDMA network can do simultaneous voice and data over 3G (EV/DO) if the handset supports SVDO. I have an HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon. I use voice and data at the same time on 3G all the time.

There may be cost and size concerns to add SVDO support and components to a phone, but it 100% works, it's real, I use it, and I'm not mistaken.

Every thread here that mentions CDMA involves over 90% of the posters yammering on and on about how CDMA can't do it. It can. It's just that most phones don't. It doesn't require any network-side upgrades! It's just the phone itself.

I expect this will get ignored again. It always does.

 

[Lord Flashheart]

Lots of speculation, which is what these boards are for I guess. I'm more curious about the reality of AT&T vs. Verizon vs. Sprint in specific locations.

I'm in San Diego, with a 45 minute commute, and AT&T phone service is the worst thing I have ever experienced. Any Sprint customers in San Diego with great phone service? I would leave AT&T in a heartbeat if Sprint proves to have better call service with unlimited data.

My friend lives in La Mesa and is in the Downtown area a lot and loves Sprint. I used to have Sprint and live in North County (I switched for the iPhone) and loved Sprint. I hate my coverage and prices with AT&T and will switch back to Sprint.

 

[karma13612]

Oh and the bastards took our two best carts.

what???

 

[Joshwawilson]

No son let me tell you. First hand and with my family all around 2003 and with others and friends, company, until late 2010.
Sprint could ****up a cup of coffee.
When it comes to keeping **** straight and customer service that Actually knows what they are doing, its a damn "Hardy Boys Mystery" for them.

Turned off my phone after 3 days of use with the company because I had a $400.00 balance on my account. Had to go to the store where I bought the phone to get it straightened out because 1-800 sprint wanted 400 just to talk to me. Others in the family and friends had the same problems thought the years. On the 14th day of my contract I went back to the store and cancelled the whole thing. Never looked back.

But the best was the company I was working for. When they told me we were going to Sprint I about had a **** fit And I mean a fit. 😡 They had already done the deal. Oh great you dumb ***** didn't talk to us about it. It took 2 weeks and everything was ****edup. You would cross a state line and the phone would die I had reps calling me from a pay phones all over. Then what phones were working would go dead after talking to Customer service to get the others fixed. The second time was when the phones started going off and the reps would call and I would call and customer service said the accounts were locked until bills were paid.
Yeah I called accounts and told them what was happening they said they can't do anything. Give me the reps name. They give it to me and after 5 calls over 2 days not answered yeah I'm pissed.
OK so I called the man himself the owner of the company he said "fix this **** NOW"!
YES SIR.
That friday All the reps were in no work was getting done no one could get a good line. So I called the Sprint rep handling the account said I need to see him urgently about a our accounts. Took him 2 hours to get there from 1/2 mile away.
We gathered all the phones chargers and boxes Ect. and waited. Owner came buy about 5 mins before the rep showed up.
Said "I have talked to senior reps they are pissed can you fix this"
Yes if you let me do what I want.
He said "Handle it"
When he said that it was on like donkey kong.
So I tell the receptionist send them to the T&E room. 😀
I had accounting cut Sprint a check for the 2 accounts for $500.00. They had apparently prepaid $1000 up front.
I have all the phones put in boxes and placed on two rolling carts and they were loaded. Rep shows up with hired muscle and they walk in with me in that room oh the look on their faces was priceless. 😱 So we sit at the big table and I say:
"We have had problems and you have been no help. I called for days and you have not called back. There are you phones and equipment. You WILL cancel the account and consider it paid in full with this check."
He said You never called me.
Yes I did repeatedly and left messages. 😡
Then his helper jumped up and said now you need to think about this it is very important.
I told him to get his **** and get out our whats on the wall will be tested.
Rep had to step between me and him. He said " come on boy lets go".
"Thank you" I said as they started pushing the carts out the door to the front lobby.
Hired muscle was steaming all red faced about to take a dump it looked like.
What scares me is this idiot that the rep brought with him was acting the way he did in a room full of SMG's, belt feds, and actual working DD's.
WTF I mean how dumb can you get.

Oh yeah **** Sprint

You probably made this up and now you look like an idiot

 

[PeterQVenkman]

The first company to offer an iPhone without a data plan and reasonable texting gets my business. (sorry AT&T, you suck for more than one reason now)

For the millionth time: ANY CDMA phone on ANY CDMA network can do simultaneous voice and data over 3G (EV/DO) if the handset supports SVDO. I have an HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon. I use voice and data at the same time on 3G all the time.

There may be cost and size concerns to add SVDO support and components to a phone, but it 100% works, it's real, I use it, and I'm not mistaken.

Every thread here that mentions CDMA involves over 90% of the posters yammering on and on about how CDMA can't do it. It can. It's just that most phones don't. It doesn't require any network-side upgrades! It's just the phone itself.

I expect this will get ignored again. It always does.

I hear ya, bro. up voted. 🙂

 

[archipellago]

Yeah I see no way this wouldn't happen. Regardless Apple will gain marketshare with iPhone5...if they offer multiple models at different pricepoints with the addition of Sprint also there's simply no reason why they wouldn't gain marketshare.

more carriers over here in the UK did little for their overall marketshare, and unless they do something with the prices they will start to fall back.

top of the range Android, WP7 and Blackberry phones can be had for much cheaper over here compared to iPhone.

 

[theBB]

No, but the market is a fickle place. AT&T and Verizon had to "feel each other out". When they realized that if one did it the other would follow suit, they dove in.

In the past, when customers were hardly surfing the web, neither of them had any reason to switch to a tiered data plan and even if they did, very few customers would actually exceed the lowest limit. Once the web surfing and app use deluge came online, then tiered data became a profit opportunity.

When a carrier is barely holding the fort against a very attractive phone, which induced people to change carriers, it had to use unlimited data as one of the few competitive advantages. Once it gets the iPhone, it is much easier to offer tiered data plans. I don't know about the last few quarters, but Sprint had been losing customers in large number for quite a while, with or without web surfing phones, their network probably still has some unused capacity. Besides having one less competitive handicap, getting more customers due to iPhone coupled with the propensity of iPhone users to use more data uses up that unused capacity, may actually forced Sprint to make that switch, as well.

 

[archipellago]

As has iOS's...that being said, what does marketshare have to do with the original statement i made which was sprint will have a hard time keeping unlimited data when/if it gets iPhone?

Can you deny that the iPhone(s) on at&t are their best selling device? Can you deny that the iPhone on verizon is its best selling device? Do you have any logical reason why an iPhone5 on sprint wouldn't be their best selling device?

Marketshare has nothing to do with a per carrier statistic. Android has high marketshare because its available on more carriers. On the carriers (at least in the US) that have both, iPhone outsells all individual android phones (and many, if not all, combined).

I don't think your argument holds up at all, but forgive me because I am not stateside and don't know how many carriers there are.

If (your claim) the 2 most popular networks in the US sell more iPhones on their respective networks than all the android devices they carry (per network) combined then are you saying that 15% difference in marketshare between iOS and Android..

http://www.gsmarena.com/android_us_market_share_continues_to_increase_comscore_reports-news-3073.php

..is made up of all the Android devices sold on other carriers?

if so then I think you are incorrect.

No doubt Sprint will get subscribers but what % will be Vzw or ATT switchers?

 

[voonyx]

I don't think your argument holds up at all, but forgive me because I am not stateside and don't know how many carriers there are.

If (your claim) the 2 most popular networks in the US sell more iPhones on their respective networks than all the android devices they carry (per network) combined then are you saying that 15% difference in marketshare between iOS and Android..

http://www.gsmarena.com/android_us_market_share_continues_to_increase_comscore_reports-news-3073.php

..is made up of all the Android devices sold on other carriers?

if so then I think you are incorrect.

No doubt Sprint will get subscribers but what % will be Vzw or ATT switchers?

The facts speak for themselves:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...smartphone_despite_growing_iphone_5_hype.html

iPhones share is rising in the US, even with a year and a half old model. I'll rephrase the "outselling all combined" and make it "outselling most combined" (although there's a good chance it could very well be outselling all combined on AT&T and Verizon...a very good chance). On AT&T even the 3GS outsells all the individual android handsets (including 4G offerings).

That's why I'm saying an iPhone to sprint is only going to cause Sprint to eventually move to tiers. They're going to get an influx of people who a) get new contracts and get the iPhone, b) switch from their android phones to iPhone or c) upgrade from a non-smartphone to an iPhone. They've improved their network greatly, but no network is going to be able to sustain unlimited data for ever. It's not a feasible approach.

People choose carriers first, phones second. It's like that, it's always been like that, it'll always be like that. There was no mass exodus from Verizon because AT&T was the only one offering the iPhone, and there was no mass exodus from AT&T because Verizon finally offered the iPhone. It'll be the same deal with Sprint.

If a Sprint iPhone comes out, the iOS marketshare in the US will rise. As it's been doing since the VZW iPhone was introduced. Does that mean it's going to overtake Android? Nope. But it's going to rise and the iPhone will be the best selling phone on Sprint. No reason to think otherwise.

As for other carriers, right now there are Sprint, T-Mobile, Virgin, Metro PCS, Boost Mobile, and some other smaller ones. So the 15% coming from them, and whatever ones are on AT&T and VZW is not a big stretch.

 

[archipellago]

The facts speak for themselves:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...smartphone_despite_growing_iphone_5_hype.html

iPhones share is rising in the US, even with a year and a half old model. I'll rephrase the "outselling all combined" and make it "outselling most combined" (although there's a good chance it could very well be outselling all combined on AT&T and Verizon...a very good chance). On AT&T even the 3GS outsells all the individual android handsets (including 4G offerings).

That's why I'm saying an iPhone to sprint is only going to cause Sprint to eventually move to tiers. They're going to get an influx of people who a) get new contracts and get the iPhone, b) switch from their android phones to iPhone or c) upgrade from a non-smartphone to an iPhone. They've improved their network greatly, but no network is going to be able to sustain unlimited data for ever. It's not a feasible approach.

People choose carriers first, phones second. It's like that, it's always been like that, it'll always be like that. There was no mass exodus from Verizon because AT&T was the only one offering the iPhone, and there was no mass exodus from AT&T because Verizon finally offered the iPhone. It'll be the same deal with Sprint.

If a Sprint iPhone comes out, the iOS marketshare in the US will rise. As it's been doing since the VZW iPhone was introduced. Does that mean it's going to overtake Android? Nope. But it's going to rise and the iPhone will be the best selling phone on Sprint. No reason to think otherwise.

As for other carriers, right now there are Sprint, T-Mobile, Virgin, Metro PCS, Boost Mobile, and some other smaller ones. So the 15% coming from them, and whatever ones are on AT&T and VZW is not a big stretch.

I think I disagree with nearly everything you've put so we'll just have to leave it like that.

 

[voonyx]

I think I disagree with nearly everything you've put so we'll just have to leave it like that.

😕 How do you disagree with numbers?? 😕 LOL...It's not like I'm speaking an opinion. Apple's marketshare in the US has risen since the VZW iPhone. That doesn't mean it's risen 40 percentage points, but it has risen. Not sure how you can disagree with facts, but ok...

 

[alust2013]

Sprint is going to make a killing with this. That said, I won't touch the iPhone until it gets 4G (already have the Epic, and it's pretty darn fast), and the ridiculously awful notification system gets fixed. Even then, it would be hard to go without swype or a physical keyboard.

I think sprint would be stupid to get rid of unlimited data, given that that and their relatively cheap prices are their biggest draw. Plus they have been advertizing it to death lately.

 

[voonyx]

Sprint is going to make a killing with this. That said, I won't touch the iPhone until it gets 4G (already have the Epic, and it's pretty darn fast), and the ridiculously awful notification system gets fixed. Even then, it would be hard to go without swype or a physical keyboard.

I think sprint would be stupid to get rid of unlimited data, given that that and their relatively cheap prices are their biggest draw. Plus they have been advertizing it to death lately.

Well they have to advertise their trump card regardless of what their future plans are. Remember Christmas '09 when VZW was running commercials equating iPhone as a misfit toy? Fast forward, and they are now selling iPhones. marketing is there for quick sales, not long term. They'll change their marketing strategy when they change their plans.

There's no chance that Sprint will remain unlimited forever.

 

[rotorblade69]

You probably made this up and now you look like an idiot

Good luck with Sprint really good luck your gonna need it. 😉

 

[eye]

That'll scoop up some nerds who think they need unlimited data, but 99.9% of people don't, so it won't matter. Now, if they offer lower prices on their iPhone plans than those two price fixing devils, they'll clean up, especially come July when the iPhone 4 users can bolt from their ATT contracts. I'll jump to sprint in a heartbeat if they undercut those two terrible companies.