I am not happy about the extra fees. Yes, we all know Dan Hesse said 4G was so much cheaper to provide than 3G, and we know he said Sprint wouldn't charge us extra for it on the Evo. We also know Sprint currently doesn't charge extra for it on the mobile broadband plans. There is more to it than that though...
I keep seeing Sprint fanboys say ridiculous things like "It's still the cheapest plan out there" and "It's still the best deal..."
Lets put some facts to that bull. I have done the legwork for everyone. Here is the truth.
Sprint:
450 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited web: $70 right now + $10 for Evo so $80
1500 minutes 2 line family plan: $130 right now + $20 for Evo so $150
1500 minutes 4 line family plan: $170 right now + $40 for Evo so $210
T-Mobile:
Even More + (no contract, pay full price for device)
500 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited web: $70
1500 minutes 2 line family plan: $120
1500 minutes 4 line family plan: $180
Even More (2 year contract, subsidized device)
500 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited web: $80
1500 minute 2 line family plan: $160
1500 minutes 4 line family plan : $230
I know, I know, the fanboys will say, "But T-Mobile coverage sucks..."
Here is a fact:
"By the end of 2010, T-Mobile expects to have HSPA+ deployed across the breadth of its 3G footprint, covering more than 100 metropolitan areas and 185 million people."
Source:
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So how does T-Mobile's HSPA+ compare to Sprint's Wimax? Here are a couple of quotes from a test PC Mag did (both in Philly):
Wimax: "average of 2.25 megabits down and 628 kilobits up, with peaks of 5.13 down and 1.17 up."
HSPA+: "average download speeds of 3.12 megabits/sec, with peaks of 7.65, and upload speeds of 1.26 megabits/sec with a peak of 2.02."
Source:
WiMAX vs. HSPA+: The Hands-On Test - WiMAX vs. HSPA+ Roundup | PCMag.com
And here is a video of the folks at Pocket Now doing a speed test on their T-Mobile HD2 and pulling almost 9 megs:
YouTube - T-Mobile's HD2 Get's Almost 10Mbps Download
Keep in mind, that HD2 isn't even made for HSPA+. It just so happens that HSPA+ is backwards compatible with HSPA, so the HD2 benefits from it. However, T-Mobile will be launching at least one device to compete with the Evo this year, made specifically for their HSPA+ network. And T-Mobile is claiming it will be 3 times faster than Sprint's 4G, as well as cover more people this year.
Source:
T-Mobile will launch HSPA+ smartphone in H2 2010, 3x faster than Sprint HTC EVO 4G