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Will Sprint slowly start to throttle users or phase out unlimited data?

Apple_Robert

Apple_Robert

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Original poster
Sep 21, 2012
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In a van down by the river
With the launch of the IPhone LTE, do you think that Sprint will soon be forced to throttle users, or phase out their unlimited data offering?

If Apple releases a new IPhone next year (as usual), that will see more and more current Sprint users upgrading their phones to make use of LTE, in my opinion.

If I am not mistaken, Sprint continues to lose a lot of money, even with the IPhone a part of their family.

How will they keep up, and still gain subscribers, under their current pricing plans?
 
Once LTE gets built out (if ever) I think they will start to go the way AT&T and VZW has. Limits and price hikes soon to come IMO
 
BasicGreatGuy said:
With the launch of the IPhone LTE, do you think that Sprint will soon be forced to throttle users, or phase out their unlimited data offering?

If Apple releases a new IPhone next year (as usual), that will see more and more current Sprint users upgrading their phones to make use of LTE, in my opinion.

If I am not mistaken, Sprint continues to lose a lot of money, even with the IPhone a part of their family.

How will they keep up, and still gain subscribers, under their current pricing plans?
Click to expand...

Not soon. If Sprint is successful and manages to steal enough customers from the other carririers *and* improves its network then definitely. However, they can't afford to do that now.
 
Six8 said:
Once LTE gets built out (if ever) I think they will start to go the way AT&T and VZW has. Limits and price hikes soon to come IMO
Click to expand...

I have seen several Sprint customers (on their forum) complain about getting a letter from Sprint, in regards to high data usage. With LTE out now, in many areas, I am wondering if Sprint is going to be able to handle the high data influx, or will the system start lag, as so many have complained for years?

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barkomatic said:
Not soon. If Sprint is successful and manages to steal enough customers from the other carririers *and* improves its network then definitely. However, they can't afford to do that now.
Click to expand...

I agree with you, in regards to them not being able to afford it now, for a variety of reasons.

I read numerous posts on online of people from other carriers going to Sprint with they first offered the IPhone. And many left, due to the very slow network speeds. I am wondering if the same thing is going to happen with the new IPhone.

I am wanting to hang on to my unlimited data, especially if I can find a way to get the new phone. At the same time, I just don't see Sprint being able to meet demand as it is now, much less with more subscribers etc.
 
Their 3G data speeds already feel like throttling.

Haven't had any experience with their LTE yet but I believe they will keep unlimited around because it's the only advantage they have to be able to try and grab customers away from Verizon and AT&T. Even if it means the overall network is slower they'll probably still continue to offer it.
 
They'll continue to sell unlimited data. It's their only marketable pitch. Everything else about their network is sub-par and can't compete with the bigger players.
 
Spectrum Abuser said:
They'll continue to sell unlimited data. It's their only marketable pitch. Everything else about their network is sub-par and can't compete with the bigger players.
Click to expand...

After reading how much they continue to lose (financially), I am amazed, that they are still in business.

Will the small cap rates from the other providers be enough to keep people with Sprint? Time will tell.
 
They will still offer it for now, because that's the only real reason why anyone stays with them, or goes to them.

They said once they fully deploy LTE, they will probably raise prices -_-
 
Not going to happen anytime soon. They need all the customers they can get to pay for their LTE rollout and ulimited data and lower pricing is their only marketable advantage. Sprint has tons of spectrum compared to their subscriber base so really no need to either. With LTE being more efficient with bandwidth theirs even less reason too. Unlike AT&T and Verizon, Sprint just can't raise their prices to gain more income as they don't have the network to justify staying. If your going to pay AT&T/Verizon prices you may as well be with them. Unless you are in one of the select few market with high speed data and don't travel often.
 
Sprint's network is so slow they can afford to have unlimited still because customers can't really use that much. Once their speeds get better I believe they probably will throttle too.
 
Maybe it's just me, but I've never had a problem with Sprint's speed and I've been a customer since 1999. I'm in one of the market's that will probably see 4G last, but that doesn't bother me as I don't use my phone like I would my Macs. Their call quality is excellent and I rarely have any dropped calls (think I've had less than 10 in my 13 years with them).

On the flip side, I avoid calling customer service as much as I can as they are never consistent with their counterparts at the Sprint store. I'm just lucky that the Sprint store closest to me is a corporate store and a repair store. I've had nothing but good results with the employees at the store.
 
They are definitely building themselves up for a massive decision. Once LTE is live and built out. I don't think that they can afford to continue Unlimited. However, they are building their name on providing unlimited LTE so as long as they can offer it, then they can say that they are the only carrier who provides Unlimited LTE, and that will drive a lot of business.
 
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