Unlimited data discussion....continued

[falconey]

I read this article on ajc.com. I hadn't heard about Tmobile moving to true unlimited data, but this might be a good sign for us Sprint customers.



T-Mobile, MetroPCS, Sprint offer new unlimited data plans


(Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com)

The battle for customers seeking unlimited data plans intensified this week with T-Mobile, MetroPCS and Sprint announcing they will offer them with few strings attached as larger rivals move away from the plans.
T-Mobile

 

[droidcentric]

MetroPCS says its deal is for a limited time but even after the promotion the deal rates continue as long as you keep the service.

Verizon and AT&T let you keep unlimited plans too and soon after they added a throttling policy to prevent anyone from using unlimited. Personally i don't trust any carrier at this point because every major player from wired and wireless has been wanting to or talked about doing away with unlimited bandwidth. The sad thing is some third world countries now have better fiber infrastructure then most of the US.

True Universal launching 100Mbps internet access in Pattaya

 

[falconey]

Verizon and AT&T let you keep unlimited plans too and soon after they added a throttling policy to prevent anyone from using unlimited. Personally i don't trust any carrier at this point because every major player from wired and wireless has been wanting to or talked about doing away with unlimited bandwidth. The sad thing is some third world countries now have better fiber infrastructure then most of the US.

True Universal launching 100Mbps internet access in Pattaya

Well I think it's easier to put infrastructure in an undeveloped area than it is in a populated area. It's like putting in wired interenet/cable access in a house that you are planning to build vs doing that same thing in a similar house that's already built.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

It would be nice if Sprint dropped the price of their everything plan to match or approach T-Mobile's offering. As it stands right now, T-Mobile will steal the crown from Sprint for best overall value plan among the big four come September 5th.

 

[droidcentric]

Well I think it's easier to put infrastructure in an undeveloped area than it is in a populated area. It's like putting in wired interenet/cable access in a house that you are planning to build vs doing that same thing in a similar house that's already built.

It's not just that since much of the US already has lines capable of very fast speeds. Service providers just want to milk us for as much as possible along the way to the top.

 

[falconey]

It would be nice if Sprint dropped the price of their everything plan to match or approach T-Mobile's offering. As it stands right now, T-Mobile will steal the crown from Sprint for best overall value plan among the big four come September 5th.

I agree with you on this. I think that Sprint has a more wide spread coverage area though. I could be wrong. I do like that Tmobile uses GSM and is now effectively cheaper. Gives me an option outside of Sprint.

 

[Mr. Ed]

I am under the impression their comparison is wrong.

I will check tomorrow. There was something being sent around the office Friday saying we (sprint) are still less


Definitely get the same impression on coverage and quality. At least in Dallas the tmo coverage, call quality and data speeds have been awful for the past several years

 

[droidcentric]

Well one great thing about t-mobile is when you have a problems you don't need to contact a fake CEO's office email.

 

[tenceriker]

Well one great thing about t-mobile is when you have a problems you don't need to contact a fake CEO's office email.

You are right about that, they just flat out ignore you.

 

[Mr. Ed]

OK...so the theory is that if you don't call land lines, sprint Is still cheaper.

79.99 vs 89.99....presumably with LTE and broader coverage, plus all the benefits of in store repairs etc.

 

[droidcentric]

You are right about that, they just flat out ignore you.

Try again they send my father replacement phones like every 6-8 months because he breaks his phone constantly. No charge, no contract extensions (they used to require an extension) and every so often they even give him credits. I don't know how good or bad the coverage is with T-Mobile these days. But i do know Sprint would not give you a phone without charging you full price even with a contract extension before your upgrade date. And keep in mind my father is a cheap sob so he does not pay for insurance either.

Btw Sprint is not cheaper when you add in recovery fees on top of the taxes that other carriers don't charge. As for LTE it's meaningless to most people as the only thing that counts is how good the coverage is and if you can use your phone when you need it. And for those who care that much about the difference in price they should go prepaid for only $50/month with Boost which is also unlimited for half the price.

 

[Mr. Ed]

And for those who care that much about the difference in price they should go prepaid for only $50/month with Boost which is also unlimited for half the price.

Truth...more and more are going this route

 

[falconey]

Try again they send my father replacement phones like every 6-8 months because he breaks his phone constantly. No charge, no contract extensions (they used to require an extension) and every so often they even give him credits. I don't know how good or bad the coverage is with T-Mobile these days. But i do know Sprint would not give you a phone without charging you full price even with a contract extension before your upgrade date. And keep in mind my father is a cheap sob so he does not pay for insurance either.

Btw Sprint is not cheaper when you add in recovery fees on top of the taxes that other carriers don't charge. As for LTE it's meaningless to most people as the only thing that counts is how good the coverage is and if you can use your phone when you need it. And for those who care that much about the difference in price they should go prepaid for only $50/month with Boost which is also unlimited for half the price.

If T-Moblie is giving phones away every 6 months just because customers break them, that is a pretty poor business model. With that said I'm pretty sure that's not a story that can be replicated by many of their customers. As for taxes, why would Sprint have different tax requirements that other carriers don't have?

 

[tenceriker]

Try again they send my father replacement phones like every 6-8 months because he breaks his phone constantly. No charge, no contract extensions (they used to require an extension) and every so often they even give him credits. I don't know how good or bad the coverage is with T-Mobile these days. But i do know Sprint would not give you a phone without charging you full price even with a contract extension before your upgrade date. And keep in mind my father is a cheap sob so he does not pay for insurance either.

Btw Sprint is not cheaper when you add in recovery fees on top of the taxes that other carriers don't charge. As for LTE it's meaningless to most people as the only thing that counts is how good the coverage is and if you can use your phone when you need it. And for those who care that much about the difference in price they should go prepaid for only $50/month with Boost which is also unlimited for half the price.

I'm glad to hear that your father is getting free phones off the backs of paying customers like my relatives. Please tell me more about this so I can contact T-mobile let them know how unfair it is to be apparently rewarding some customers who consistently break phones every 6-8 months while other customers get the there's nothing what so ever that can be done to get into a new phone conversation. And by recovery fees, I assume you mean lost/stolen fees they are across all carriers that use Asurion. I paid 175$ just a few months ago when my sister lost her iphone to Verizon.

BTW, we get it, you don't like Sprint. I don't like T-mobile/AT&T yet you don't find me stirring up trouble in their respective forums on Phandroid.

 

[droidcentric]

If T-Moblie is giving phones away every 6 months just because customers break them, that is a pretty poor business model. With that said I'm pretty sure that's not a story that can be replicated by many of their customers. As for taxes, why would Sprint have different tax requirements that other carriers don't have?

It's not a poor business model when you spend about $400 a year on phones to make $1200 back. That's called a revenue expenditure and some companies will spend far more to make much less return. Mobile providers in fact spend more just to get a new customer in the door who might not even stay for the full contract duration. There are often times when a provider will lose money to make it and it's a smart business move to take care of your long term profit bearing customers. It's far better to break even and have greater market share then to have those same customers turning profits for your competitors in fact.

BTW, we get it, you don't like Sprint. I don't like T-mobile/AT&T yet you don't find me stirring up trouble in their respective forums on Phandroid.

If your family member can't get a new phone it's because they are trying to get a top of the line phone. They will give you a cheap free phone and all you have to do is threaten to walk away from the contract. But if you expect a free GS3 every 6 months or something to that effect then your asking for to much. By giving my father phones it brings in approx $1200 a year in revenue. If you subtract the value of his phones they are still making a worthwhile profit and profit is profit. However this is why most people in America work for other people these days as they have no business sense.

As for stirring trouble in what you apparently think is your forum do consider i was a Sprint customer for many years. That gives me the right to speak about my experience until my dying breath. I highly doubt if a REGIONAL MANAGER of SPRINT had threatened you with physical harm and various employees insulted you it would be no big deal and you would say nothing about it. I probably could have let it all go up until Sprint REFUSED to cancel my service and continued to bill me until AT&T ported my number away.

 

[Mr. Ed]

I thought all that happened over the phone?

So confrused


I understand the tax comments now....yes, sprint had some errors in taxes....like 6 years ago lol. Every subscriber that was mis taxed was refunded those fees. I was a customer back then.

As for the customer service thing....I refuse to keep going round and round on it.

The results of the changes sprint has made ate out there, done by a 3rd party.

I am currently employed by sprint and in the top area on customer satisfaction. I take it very seriously, and we can always continuously improve.

Insert standard disclaimer:
my posts here are not a reflection of sprint policy and solely a matter of my personal opinion

 

[tenceriker]

It's not a poor business model when you spend about $400 a year on phones to make $1200 back. That's called a revenue expenditure and some companies will spend far more to make much less return. Mobile providers in fact spend more just to get a new customer in the door who might not even stay for the full contract duration. There are often times when a provider will lose money to make it and it's a smart business move to take care of your long term profit bearing customers. It's far better to break even and have greater market share then to have those same customers turning profits for your competitors in fact.



If your family member can't get a new phone it's because they are trying to get a top of the line phone. They will give you a cheap free phone and all you have to do is threaten to walk away from the contract. But if you expect a free GS3 every 6 months or something to that effect then your asking for to much. By giving my father phones it brings in approx $1200 a year in revenue. If you subtract the value of his phones they are still making a worthwhile profit and profit is profit. However this is why most people in America work for other people these days as they have no business sense.

As for stirring trouble in what you apparently think is your forum do consider i was a Sprint customer for many years. That gives me the right to speak about my experience until my dying breath. I highly doubt if a REGIONAL MANAGER of SPRINT had threatened you with physical harm and various employees insulted you it would be no big deal and you would say nothing about it. I probably could have let it all go up until Sprint REFUSED to cancel my service and continued to bill me until AT&T ported my number away.

Now I remember you and that makes your comments on business sense all the more laughable. The first rule of business is always get it in writing. I am sure your remember that now but please leave all this in the past and move on. I grew up in Washington DC don't even begin to talk about threats until you spend time there. As for your experience it mirrors mine and yet unless someone brings it up I don't go into my history with AT&T and Tmob. It just makes you a bitter person and it means they won because even after all this time you are still wasting your life thinking about them. Isn't your time more valuable?

 

[SEMIJim]

Verizon and AT&T let you keep unlimited plans too ...

It's my understanding that, with either of them, a contract renewal loses you your unlimited data.

The sad thing is some third world countries now have better fiber infrastructure then most of the US.

Oh, we have plenty of infrastructure. (Tho more FTTH would be nice.) What's embarrassing is we pay more, for less, for both broadband and wireless than many, if not most, developed countries, as I understand it.

Jim

 

[Mr. Ed]

Verizon plan change is required now with a new device. Att we keep our unlimoted but are throttled after 3gb of use on 3g phones and 5gb of use on LTE phones. Monthly the come up with abuse excuses and try and force us off of our unlimited plans

 

[droidcentric]

Now I remember you and that makes your comments on business sense all the more laughable.

I only buy the best products available with my money and i only pay in cash for things i can afford because it's the smart thing to do.

Lack of business sense?

Must be why i've been self employed for almost a decade.

 

[Mr. Ed]

I only buy the best products available with my money and i only pay in cash for things i can afford because it's the smart thing to do.

Lack of business sense?

Must be why i've been self employed for almost a decade.

Define best product lol.

 

[falconey]

It's not a poor business model when you spend about $400 a year on phones to make $1200 back. That's called a revenue expenditure and some companies will spend far more to make much less return. Mobile providers in fact spend more just to get a new customer in the door who might not even stay for the full contract duration. There are often times when a provider will lose money to make it and it's a smart business move to take care of your long term profit bearing customers. It's far better to break even and have greater market share then to have those same customers turning profits for your competitors in fact.



If your family member can't get a new phone it's because they are trying to get a top of the line phone. They will give you a cheap free phone and all you have to do is threaten to walk away from the contract. But if you expect a free GS3 every 6 months or something to that effect then your asking for to much. By giving my father phones it brings in approx $1200 a year in revenue. If you subtract the value of his phones they are still making a worthwhile profit and profit is profit. However this is why most people in America work for other people these days as they have no business sense.

As for stirring trouble in what you apparently think is your forum do consider i was a Sprint customer for many years. That gives me the right to speak about my experience until my dying breath. I highly doubt if a REGIONAL MANAGER of SPRINT had threatened you with physical harm and various employees insulted you it would be no big deal and you would say nothing about it. I probably could have let it all go up until Sprint REFUSED to cancel my service and continued to bill me until AT&T ported my number away.

Sorry in the telecom industry, giving away phones for free and with no obligation because customers break them is bad business. Good for your dad and all, but I don't think that's the expectation many customers have when dealing with celluar companies, esp with no insurance.

 

[droidcentric]

Sorry in the telecom industry, giving away phones for free and with no obligation because customers break them is bad business.

I guess you should be on the board of t-mobile to better tell them what's good for business.

 

[simcha]

If Sprint doesn't pick up their game, then the whole marketing advantage of offering unlimited data will slip through their fingers. Network Vision is a slow and laborious process as far as being a customer right now is concerned. The 3G speeds suck worse as they "upgrade." Eventually customers will get tired of slow speeds in the name of progress and promises for a better tomorrow. Results are what matters. So far, I'm not impressed with Network Vision. It's slow going and meanwhile certain other providers have fully developed and fully functional 4G networks that work in synch with their 3G networks.

Sprint is getting their lumps in the latest round of Tmo and Big Red marketing campaigns. Sprint doesn't have enough to show to even begin to respond. Hopefully we won't be waiting a year or more for Sprint to show real network improvements nation wide.

 

[Mr. Ed]

If Sprint doesn't pick up their game, then the whole marketing advantage of offering unlimited data will slip through their fingers. Network Vision is a slow and laborious process as far as being a customer right now is concerned. The 3G speeds suck worse as they "upgrade." Eventually customers will get tired of slow speeds in the name of progress and promises for a better tomorrow. Results are what matters. So far, I'm not impressed with Network Vision. It's slow going and meanwhile certain other providers have fully developed and fully functional 4G networks that work in synch with their 3G networks.

Sprint is getting their lumps in the latest round of Tmo and Big Red marketing campaigns. Sprint doesn't have enough to show to even begin to respond. Hopefully we won't be waiting a year or more for Sprint to show real network improvements nation wide.

Big red definitely has an advantage....but you do realize that tmo has no true 4g right?

I am actually shocked they are still allowed to advertise it as such.

Att is nearly halfway done with their build out...but still behind big red and ahead of sprint.

As a customer of both att and sprint, and having both lte available...I can say not having to worry about throttle or caps is pretty nice

As for your 3g speeds specifically... what phone do you have?

There may be some settings I can suggest tweaking for better speeds

Most customers shouldn't see outages or crippling speeds for extended periods.

If speeds were always low that's one thing, but if you see more than a 48 time period of slower than normal, someone needs to be called