So, I have a real problem. I've been with Sprint for 10 years as of this August. I have perfect payment history and a credit rating above 780. I currently own the HTC Hero, which has been a good little phone, but I want to upgrade. I have the $150 credit to get a new phone, but that's where the issues begin to crop up.
My current contract expires Feb. 19, 2012. Because of successful negotiations in the past with Sprint's Executive Services, I pay $36 and change after taxes and fees for the following:
Plan details
Everything Data 450 $69.99
450 Anytime Minutes Included
Nationwide Long Distance Included
America - Roaming Included
Unlimited Any Mobile, Anytime
Unlimited SMS Text Messaging
Unlimited Picture Mail
Unlimited Data Usage
GPS Navigation
Sprint Data Essentials Pack
Nights: M-TH 7pm-7am Wknd: F 7pm-M 7am
Caller ID
Call Waiting
Three-Way Calling
Voicemail
Add-on services for:
Sprint Navigation
$0.00
Cellular Call Detail
$0.00
Unlimited Nights&Weekends-7pm
$0.00
Premium Data $0 add-on charge
$0.00
300 bonus Anytime Minutes per month
$0.00
Unlimited Any Mobile, Anytime
$0.00
Data Usage
$0.00
Picture Mail
$0.00
I don't use a whole lot of minutes (mostly mobile-to-mobile), don't use a whole lot of data (never more than 2GB/mo), and my max texts are typically around 3500/mo.
I want to upgrade my phone, and I'm considering the SGS2. I have been in contact with Executive Services recently, and the lowdown is that if I want to get a new phone, I will have to pay $200 for the phone. Then, since I was grandfathered in, I'll have to pay the premium data fee of $10/mo. But, I will also have to renew my contract and I will lose the extra $20/mo service credit that is currently offsetting the price of my service. I will retain my corporate discount of 27%, but, all told, after taxes and fees, simply upgrading my phone for $200 will actually increase the price of my service to about $65-70/mo after taxes and fees. This is nearly doubling the price of my service, and without a free phone to boot.
This is nearly the price of similar competing Verizon and AT&T service plans (after my corp discounts there), but Sprint doesn't offer 4G in my area (Albuquerque, NM), and their 3G service is spotty, at best.
Why should I stay with Sprint? Are there better options?
If your bill is going to go up anyway you might want to consider going with a carrier that offers GSM phones (t-mobile, AT&T). That way if you manage to wangle the price of your contract down over the years and face a similar situation as you're in now you can just go out and buy any GSM phone, unlock it (if necessary), stick your current SIM card in and voila, you have a new phone, but you get to keep your existing (cheap) contract.
I joined t-mobile about 2 months ago on a monthly rolling contract, I wanted to change my phone so I just bought a Samsung Exhibit 2 outright from Amazon and stuck my current SIM card in. No hassle.
That's sage advice. Thank you!
How much of a difference from $65-70/mo am I looking at from other cellular providers for the same level of service? Just a cursory check finds $0.01 Verizon phone deals through Amazon, and similar monthly recurring charges for 450 anytime, unlimited text, and 4GB data, after corporate discounts.
Im currently on sprint, and plan on going to t-mobile. I was planing to get the galaxy s4 (no contract) and hop on t-mobiles 500 min unlimited text/data plan since the price was good and i only use like 100 min a month. I dont see this plan on their website anymore though (or i cant find it) i can only find the new uncarrier plans which wont let me adjust how many minutes i want a month, it only shows unlimited. and it is more expensive then the one i wanted.
so my question is, does the plan i originally wanted still exist? I will be really dissapointed if it doesnt
I think they're not having "plans"anymore. From what I've read, $50 will get you unlimited talk and text, plus 500mb of data. Then you either buy unlimited data for $20, or they charge $10 for each additional 2gb you use.
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying
This page is still up : http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans
If I were you, I'd hurry up and buy a SIM card and even just a $20 pre-paid phone/one of CL/whatever and get it activated if it's still possible instead of waiting.
If they kick me off it I'll just go to buying minutes only and they'll lose quite a bit of money, so meh. Or maybe I'd go to data-only. Or another carrier.
Pennycake said:
This page is still up : http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans
If I were you, I'd hurry up and buy a SIM card and even just a $20 pre-paid phone/one of CL/whatever and get it activated if it's still possible instead of waiting.
If they kick me off it I'll just go to buying minutes only and they'll lose quite a bit of money, so meh. Or maybe I'd go to data-only. Or another carrier.
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that wasnt the page i was looking at before. To get to the page i looked at before i would navigate to plans>individual plans>value plans
also, do these prepaid plans include unlimited text/data? i see no mention of it.
TheAtheistOtaku said:
that wasnt the page i was looking at before. To get to the page i looked at before i would navigate to plans>individual plans>value plans
also, do these prepaid plans include unlimited text/data? i see no mention of it.
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That's just a page with the old plans, that's all it is. I have no idea if or when they'll implement changes to their system when you activate a SIM card.
It's also still advertised on WAL*MART's web site along with the new plans. You could go to WAL*MART, buy a cheap phone/SIM and then switch it.
They've just been talking about this on CNBC squawk box, they seemed positive from the company's point of view, $100 a month for unlimited everything then after 2 years knock $20 pm off your bill because you've paid for the phone by then, still seems expensive to me, at the mo an S3 costs £32 all you can eat then after 2 years go sim only for £17 or less to suit.
Euthye said:
They've just been talking about this on CNBC squawk box, they seemed positive from the company's point of view, $100 a month for unlimited everything then after 2 years knock $20 pm off your bill because you've paid for the phone by then, still seems expensive to me, at the mo an S3 costs £32 all you can eat then after 2 years go sim only for £17 or less to suit.
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i wont be doing this "financing" they are talking about. i will be paying off the phone then and there. ITs certainly dissapointing that they dont have what i was looking for anymore, though i will still be switching
Euthye said:
They've just been talking about this on CNBC squawk box, they seemed positive from the company's point of view, $100 a month for unlimited everything then after 2 years knock $20 pm off your bill because you've paid for the phone by then, still seems expensive to me, at the mo an S3 costs £32 all you can eat then after 2 years go sim only for £17 or less to suit.
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Click to collapse
For family/group plans its a rip or breaking even with current rates.
The plan seems worth it to me.
I'm a person that barely uses my minutes, so I was paying 40 for 500 minutes and then 10 bux for texting and then 30 for 5GB data.
I switched to the no contract plan already and I'm going to be saving 10 bux a month now and have unlimited data with no throttle. Only downfall is that the mobile hotspot now has a restriction of 500MB before they shut it down and require you to get a hotspot plan, but nothing that a usb tether or bluetooth tether can't fix.
For individuals, this makes sense, because with the lowest minutes plan, txt and data (seems like they have moved everyone to 5gb plans now on smartphones) you were paying 80, so there is instant savings on the plan now going contract-less.
When I was with Sprint I looked at my minutes usage and I averaged 100 minutes a month and was paying $46/mo for 500 minutes and unlimited texting, no data.
Now I pay $30/mo plus only state sales tax ($1- something) and I have all the minutes I need plus 5Gb of data I didn't have before.
With the $400 phone cost, it evens out to about $40/mo for the first two years. And I'm getting everything I had plus more for still slightly less per month.
I also have various VOIP apps that I can use to call and essentially get as many minutes as I could want.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
This post will be divided into several posts for the sake of reading cimplicity.
Contents
Contents
Introduction
AT&T breakdown
T-Mobile and Verizon breakdowns
Conclusion
Alternatives for $$$-savvy consumers
Since AT&T announced their NEXT program (and Verizon subsequently their Edge program), I've wanted to do a comparison, but long hours at work have gotten in the way.
Last week, T-Mobile announced their JUMP program (just upgrade my phone), which allows two upgrades in a 12-month period. Since then, AT&T and Verizon have followed suit in announcing their own plans that allow a 12-month upgrade path. So, which is cheaper and how do they compare?
On the surface, AT&T and Verizon have designed their plans to look cheaper. They're actually more expensive as you now pay a double-subsidy. For this comparison, I'm going to use the 16GB iPhone 5 (the best selling phone in the US), and I'm going to compare plans that offer unlimited talk, text, and approximately 2GB of data on an individual line.
AT&T: There are two plans which meet the criteria. We'll be comparing 3 plans (one alternative)
Voice/Data/Messaging - unlimited talk is $69.99, text is $30, and 3GB data is $30, bringing this to a total of $129.99/month. There was no 2GB option, and using the $20/300mb option would incur too many overages. Alternatively, you could use the 450 minute plan + rollover minutes for $30 less per month.
Mobile Share - $45 for smartphone unlim talk/txt, $40 for 1GB of data, and $15 for a 1GB overage brings us to $100/mo.
T-Mobile: T-Mobile has one plan
$60/mo for unlim talk/txt, 2.5GB of high-speed data (unlimited thereafter, no overages).
Verizon: Only one plan, and it meets our criteria exactly.
Unlimited talk/txt on a smartphone for $40, plus $60 for 2GB of data, $100mo total.
AT&T has two plans that I wanted to focus on, with one alternative plan with lower minutes. The alternative isn't an apples to apples comparison, but it's not AT&T's fault that Verizon and T-Mobile don't offer more flexibility with their minutes.
Under AT&T's next program, you pay $0 down when you get a new phone, but you pay the full cost of the phone over 20 months. This would be a great deal on its own if they would remove the subsidy from the calling plan, but they don't. You still pay the phone subsidy, and then you pay for the phone. The perk here is that after 12 months (paying for 60% of the phone), you can trade in your phone for another $0 upgrade.
Using our iPhone 5 16GB example, you pay $0 down and an additional $32.50/month on your bill. Here's how the AT&T plans compare over 12 months with this method.
Voice, Messaging, and Data (unlimited minutes):
$0 down, $32.50/mo for the phone ($390)
$69.99/mo for voice ($839.88)
$30/mo for unlimited text ($360)
$30/mo for 3GB data ($360)
$162.49/mo
Grand total of $1,949.88 over 12 months with an initial phone and one subsequent upgrade
ALTERNATIVE - Voice, Messaging, and Data (450 minutes):
$0 down, $32.50/mo for the phone ($390)
$39.99/mo for voice ($479.88)
$30/mo for unlimited text ($360)
$30/mo for 3GB data ($360)
$132.49/mo
Grand total of $1,589.88 over 12 months with an initial phone and one subsequent upgrade
Mobile Share:
$0 down, $32.50/mo for the phone ($390)
$45/mo for unlimited voice and text ($540)
$40/mo for 1GB data ($480)
$15/mo for 1GB data overage ($180)
$132.50/mo
Grand total of $1,590 over 12 months with an initial phone and one subsequent upgrade
T-Mobile and Verizon each have one plan that truly fits into this comparison, so I'm combining them into one post. One again, we'll be using the 16GB iPhone 5 for this comparison.
T-Mobile separates the subsidy from the plan, which means that you'll be paying less for the monthly service plan, and you'll pay the full price of the phone, up-front or through a 24 month 0% financing program. As part of JUMP, you can upgrade twice at any time within a 12-month period by simply trading in your phone and paying the down payment for the new phone. Participation in this program requires a $10 monthly fee that includes their otherwise $8 insurance program.
T-Mobile Simple Choice Individual Plan:
$145.99 down, $20/mo for the phone (385.99)
$10/mo for JUMP participation ($120)
$50/mo for unlimited talk/text, 500MB high-speed data ($600)
$10/mo for additional 2GB high-speed data ($120)
$90/mo
$145.99 down for next similar upgrade
Grand total of $1,225.99 over 12 months with an initial phone and one subsequent upgrade
Verizon's Edge program is close to AT&T's in similarity, in that you're paying a double-subsidy. However, unlike AT&T, who requires at least 12 months and 60% paid off before your upgrade, Verizon requires 6 months and 50%. Their phone payments are spread over 24 months instead of 20. It seems (unsure) that you can actually pay your choice of $0 down, or the normal subsidy rate, which would get you the upgrade at 6 months as opposed to 12. We'll go with $0 and 12 months for this example.
Verizon Share Everything Plan:
$0 down, $27.08/$27.08 fluctuating per month for the phone ($325)
$40/mo for unlimited talk and text ($480)
$60/mo for 2GB of data ($720)
$127.08/$127.09 fluctuating monthly total
Grand total of $1,525 over 12 months with an initial phone and one subsequent upgrade
So, as a conclusion, here's the 12-month ranking from cheapest to most expensive.
T-Mobile Simple Choice Plan - $1,225.99
Verizon Share Everything Plan - $1,525
AT&T Voice, Messaging, and Data Plan (450 Minutes) - $1,589.88
AT&T Mobile Share Plan - $1,590
AT&T Voice, Messaging, and Data Plan (unlimited Minutes) - $1,949.88
Across the board, AT&T seems the worst, but to be fair, they give the most flexibility. They do not have a NEXT compatibile plan that offers unlimited talk and text with 2GB of data. So, I had to fudge their plans to give more data, or fewer minutes. Verizon and T-Mobile offer plans that fit the criteria almost exactly (2.5GB on TMO's plan), which is why they came out "ahead".
You can alter all of these plans to some degree. For T-Mobile, reducing the total cost by $120 ($10/mo) brings your data down to 500Mb of high-speed. I'm currently using this, and they are VERY generous with their post-500MB throttling. I've had no problems with basic tasks and web browsing, and even Pandora works with rarely a hiccup (while driving, no less). Or, you can go $120 in the other direction for truly unlimited data, and still come out cheaper than the plans from other carriers.
But for some, T-Mobile isn't an option. Verizon and AT&T are about the same in price between their Mobile Share and Share Everything Plans. Verizon's EDGE program requires a lower monthly fee for the phone to participate, so they will always be cheaper than AT&T in this regard. However, AT&T still offers their older plans, listed as Voice, Messaging, and Data. You can reduce the minutes as low as 450 + rollover, switch to pay as you go texting if you're not a big texter, and/or go down to 300Mb of data. Doing so will STILL cost more than T-Mobile's offering (unless you literally never send/receive a single text message outside of messaging apps). But, it will beat anything that Verizon offers.
So, what are the alternatives if you want to upgrade more quickly, but save some money? For AT&T and Verizon, the option is simple. Buy their phone on contract on subsidy, and when it's time to upgrade, sell the phone and buy a new one full price.
For Verizon, this is more costly when compared to AT&T, as CDMA phones have much lower resale value. For example, let's say that you bought the Galaxy S3 when it came out for $199.99, and now you want to upgrade to the Galaxy S4 ($649.99). Used SGS3s on Verizon are currently trading around the $200 mark. So, you'd sell it for about what you paid for it, bringing your 12-month cost to $1,849 after the cost of your new phone. The next year, though, you're upgrade would be at subsidy price, bringing your second year cost down to $1,200. You'd average an annual price of approximately $1,525, or, exactly what Verizon offers without having to go through the hassle of finding a buyer for your phone. So in this case, Verizon's plan is a fair deal. If you're an iPhone user, you'll get more money on your resale, making it worthwhile to sell and upgrade on your own.
For AT&T, you have the option of using branded handsets and unlocked handsets that have higher resale. You could sell an AT&T branded SGS3 for about $300. When you upgrade, you could opt for a lower-priced Nexus handset for $350. Alternatively, you can use AT&T's excellent new prepaid plan, which is $60/mo for unlimited talk, text, and 2GB of data. This brings them roughly on par with T-Mobile, except that you have to pay full price for the handset, and you have to sell it on its own. If you like T-Mobiles costs, don't mind paying up front, but need better nationwide coverage, this is the best plan out right now (among the big 4 carriers).
With T-Mobile, there's not much flexibility, but you're already at the bottom in price. As mentioned in the Conclusion post, you can move the annual cost $120 in either direction based on your high-speed data needs. You could forego the $10/mo JUMP program and just resell your old handset, buying a new phone either full-priced or financed through T-Mobile. Or, you could switch from their Simple Choice to their prepaid plan. They cost exactly the same on paper, but there is a cost difference. Simple Choice supports corporate discounts, while prepaid does not. Simple Choice carries the usual unfees, IE, fake taxes and fake regulatory charges, whereas prepaid only charges the sales tax associated with the seller (you can buy online refills from many sites with no sales tax). Our $80 Simple Choice 2-line plan costs $80 on paper, but after a 15% corporate discount and numerous unfees, it's $87.22. To get the same from prepaid, it's $80/mo flat from some places, or $87.60/mo with local sales tax. Prepaid doesn't carry the option of financing the phone, so it should only be considered if you always buy outright, and you have no eligible corporate discounts.
Good write up. Note, also, that in "changing the rules", I imagine that we might see cries of price-fixing, as there doesn't seem to be a viable way to shop a phone's price.
Sprint's upgrade program will be called OFF-THE in order to complete the sentence: JUMP OFF-THE NEXT EDGE
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PAPB0007 said:
Sprint's upgrade program will be called OFF-THE in order to complete the sentence: JUMP OFF-THE NEXT EDGE
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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If only I knew more people in real life who would appreciate this humor.
After spending some time chatting with a Sprint rep, I found that if you have a discount with Sprint provided by your employer, that discount is significantly lower on the new "Unlimited, My Way" plans than any now grandfathered plan. I only found one thread referencing this on the Sprint community forums and nothing here on XDA.
An example:
Let's say you currently use the Everything Data 450 plan. You're paying their $10 "premium data" fee per month, plus the regular plan fee of $69.99, for an $79.99 total bill before taxes and surcharges. It's been stated by Sprint reps that migrating from this plan to the Unlimited, My Way plan would only increase your monthly bill by $0.01, since the "Unlimited Talk and Text" costs $50 per month, and unlimited data adds $30,00, for a total bill of $80 (premium data fee no longer necessary). However, something I haven't found advertised is the fact that an employee discount no longer applies to your entire monthly plan fee, but only to the data package you select.
On the grandfathered plan, your 20% discount would yield a savings of $14 per month, but on the new plans, the discount (based only on the mothly data fee) is only $6.
TL;DR - If your employer provides a discount for your Sprint service and you don't approach or exceed the allowable minutes on your current plan, think twice before upgrading to one of the new Unlimited, My Way plans.