Sprint's "premium data" lifespan? Is it here to stay?

[DisplacedMic]

Hello all - I am about a year into my 2-year Sprint contract that I got in order to buy my HTC EVO 4g. Other then the so-so battery life, i love my phone and will most likely look to upgrade to the Evo 3d when the time comes. I agreed to the BS $10/month "premium data" plan because i looked at it as a "tax" on early adopters. If you really want the newest toy, you pay the highest price and so on... It was, after all, the first 4g phone.

However now that other carriers have launched and are in the process of launching their own 4g networks I am having a hard time justifying the cost... I do have (spotty) 4g coverage here in the triangle are of North Carolina and I admit it is extremely fast, but I have probably used it less than 2 total hours in the entire time I've had the phone... if i am traveling i typically turn it on just out of curiosity on coverage and less as an actual function that i use.

Anyway - i was sure that would be a thing of the past as the next generations of phones came along, yet I see that Sprint is not only asking for it for the Evo 3D but they have also expanded it into the plans of other smartphones?

Any tech market forecasters out there have any thoughts, opinions or predictions on this?

Is it here to stay? I know there is some negative publicity (class action suits etc) but at this point I am surprised the pressure isn't more as "don't want it? get something else" is more of an option as other companies and providers catch up to the Evo....

 

[Yourdogsdead]

It does seem that the 10 dollar charge is here to say. It may not stay as a surcharge though. It's possible that it will be integrated into the bill in the near future, but I don't see it going away. Since only smartphones seem to get it.

 

[Linkchomp]

It's already included in the bill. Look at the newest advertisements.

 

[DisplacedMic]

It's already included in the bill. Look at the newest advertisements.

are you sure? b/c when i added an evo 3d to a cart just to see it still added a $10 monthly fee on top of everything else.... so the cheapest plan is $80/month

 

[NMherron]

I don't see Sprint getting rid of the $10 fee anytime soon. Here is why...

26 Million Post-Paid Subscribers x 25% Smartphone Users = 6.5M Smartphone Subscribers

6.5M x $10 Smartphone fee is $65 Million per month. $260M per Quarter. Over $1 Billion per year.​

But they will not be getting rid of that fee. They can't afford to. They are addicted to it. When they are losing $800M per quarter, these kind of bucks can't be cast away. They need it. It's keeping their cash flow! And these are big bucks.

With the $10 fee included, Sprint is still the least expensive, especially when you get to three or more devices on one account. This is a major value. And when you consider unlimited, it just increases the value.

 

[DisplacedMic]

I don't see Sprint getting rid of the $10 fee anytime soon. Here is why...

26 Million Post-Paid Subscribers x 25% Smartphone Users = 6.5M Smartphone Subscribers

6.5M x $10 Smartphone fee is $65 Million per month. $260M per Quarter. Over $1 Billion per year.​

But they will not be getting rid of that fee. They can't afford to. They are addicted to it. When they are losing $800M per quarter, these kind of bucks can't be cast away. They need it. It's keeping their cash flow! And these are big bucks.

With the $10 fee included, Sprint is still the least expensive, especially when you get to three or more devices on one account. This is a major value. And when you consider unlimited, it just increases the value.

but they aren't really the least expensive, are they? sure - they are the cheapest "everything" plan - but there are plenty of people who don't need it.

my wife has an iPhone and her monthly bill is cheaper than my Sprint bill. as it were she is required to be on att otherwise we would have a family plan - which obviously does get cheaper as you mentioned.

i understand why they did the $10/month in the first place - but like i said in my OP - it seems to me that this will get harder to justify now that everybody has moved into the world of 4g....

 

[NMherron]

In many forums there is a fight about whether it was a "$10 4G Fee" or a "Premium Data Fee." I really don't want to get into that argument, but...

I got the Evo on opening day, June 4, 2010. My contract with AT&T on my iPhone 3GS ended and I wanted to try something new. The sales lady at the store told me, there is a $10 Premium Data fee. It's going to be on all 4G phones.

Sure enough, my first bill comes and everyone of our devices has a $10 Premium Data fee. It never said 4G fee like some people claim.

My brother has an Echo (a 3G only phone), and he pays the $10 Premium Data fee, too.

I think a lot of the unhappiness comes from people who were verbally told by sales people, it's a 4G fee. But in reality, it never was. Sprint just thought of adding it when the Evo came out was a good time, as they could see data use going up.

Like I've said, even with the $10 fee, it's still a great value with Sprint. And class action lawsuits will go nowhere because all the confusion is verbal. Everything in writing says Premium Data, in their Contracts, in their Terms of Service and in their monthly bills.

 

[NMherron]

but they aren't really the least expensive, are they? sure - they are the cheapest "everything" plan - but there are plenty of people who don't need it.

my wife has an iPhone and her monthly bill is cheaper than my Sprint bill. as it were she is required to be on att otherwise we would have a family plan - which obviously does get cheaper as you mentioned.

i understand why they did the $10/month in the first place - but like i said in my OP - it seems to me that this will get harder to justify now that everybody has moved into the world of 4g....

I don't know of a full Apples to Apples comparison, because I don't know of all the plans. However, in my case, I went from three iPhone 3GS to three Evos. My Sprint bill is $45 less per month than my AT&T bill was.

Later, I found out as a state employee, I got a 15% discount, and it went down even further.

So I'm not sure how it shakes out for everyone. But in my case, I'm happy. Also, Sprint needs to be a better value, or they are going to have a huge problem keeping folks.

 

[DisplacedMic]

i agree - i am much happier as a Sprint customer than i ever was with att or verizon, but the fact remains that on an individual level they are not the cheapest plan - especially with the "premium data"

you raise a good point about the confusion between 4g and premium - i don't think they did a good job making that clear, and i also don't think that was by accident. Sure, all of us discussed it at length last june when we were getting our phones - but the typical forum lurker/poster is not your typical user.

even still, it is bizarre to me that a "simply everything" data plan should require a compulsory "premium data plan"

it might not say 4g - but clearly that is exactly what they were alluding to....
yes - they have since changed the language to all smartphones - but it was clear they were talking about the "rich data experience" enjoyed by the Evo.

So - the simply everything plan isn't really simply everything now is it?

 

[NMherron]

So - the simply everything plan isn't really simply everything now is it?

The Marketing Dept. rejected the slogan...

"The Simply Almost Everything, except the hidden premium fees and also we don't have ubqiquitous 4G coverage and our 3G network is crashing, but it's OK because we are a great value Plan"​

Killjoys...

 

[DisplacedMic]

hehe, i think you're probably right about that

 

[nerdydesi]

I have no problems at all with this fee if it will let Sprint keep unlimited data as long as they possibly can. They are the last nationwide carrier to offer it.

Would you guys want to lose the fee but also get ridiculously low caps like Verizon and high overage rates? I hope more would rather pay the fee than not. If Sprint gets a nice LTE network and still has unlimited, I'd like to leave Verizon for them, even though I have grandfathered unlimited data with VZW. I could still benefit from a lower bill and more features for the money.

 

[pappy53]

They need to fix their coverage. It dropped considerably in NC a few months ago, and has not been back up to par since.

 

[drjb74]

I have no problems at all with this fee if it will let Sprint keep unlimited data as long as they possibly can. They are the last nationwide carrier to offer it.

I agree, and I like the unlimited data. However, as many studies have shown, most people do not cross that 2GB threshold when it comes to data. I think people like the idea of unlimited, even though they do not actually take advantage of it. I would equate this to an "all you can eat" establishment. They offer all you can eat, knowing full well most people do not do that. They charge more than a meal at another restaurant, but people feel they are getting a better value.

The same applies to SMS, voice calls, etc. People are so concerned that they will go over, and be charged more fees, that they pay more ahead of time to prevent that.

For example, my mother-in-law has a "dumbphone" and pays $20 per month on Verizon for unlimited texting. However, she only send 30-50 texts a month. She could easily downgrade that plan, and save money, but the sales guy convinced her what a great value it was.