Sprint counters T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, with own early upgrade program
America's third-largest wireless carrier may be late to the party, but Sprint will reportedly launch its own early phone upgrade program just in time for the arrival of Apple's iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.
Sprint One Up is said to be the name of Sprint's new early upgrade option, according to Cnet. One Up, according to sources familiar with Sprint's plans, will launch on Friday, September 20, the same day that Apple will launch both the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c.
Sprint One Up will allow customers to get a new phone for no money down. Customers pay down the cost of the phone over the course of two years in monthly installments. Under this scheme, a $650 device would be paid off in $27 per month payments, with any remaining balance paid in the final installment.
Should a customer terminate their contract before the two years are up, the customer is responsible for paying the remaining balance of the device's price. That fee would be due the following month.
The early upgrade aspect kicks in after one year of service. Customers can then trade in the phone they bought the year previous for a new device, whereupon the aforementioned repayment plan and obligations are renewed.
Reportedly, when the program kicks off on September 20, those customers who have already been on contract for at least a year will be eligible to participate. They will, though, be required to trade in their existing phones unless they are eligible for a discounted upgrade. The program is not open to Sprint prepaid customers.
One Up will compete against Verizon's Edge, T-Mobile's Jump, and AT&T's Next early upgrade programs. Sprint is the last of the major United States carriers to implement such a program. Its announcement marks the fulfillment of a trend that was started by T-Mobile earlier this year.
That carrier, continually losing subscribers over the past few years, announced Jump, which allows two smartphone upgrades per year for a $10 per month fee. Soon after, both AT&T and Verizon announced their own competing smartphone upgrade plans.
Observers have previously noted that T-Mobile's plan appears to be the best deal between that carrier, AT&T, and Verizon, due to the fact that T-Mobile offers a discount on the wireless plan as well. Sprint One Up also offers a discount on the wireless plan, meaning it is closer to T-Mobile's offering than it is either of the other two competitors.
Sprint One Up is said to be the name of Sprint's new early upgrade option, according to Cnet. One Up, according to sources familiar with Sprint's plans, will launch on Friday, September 20, the same day that Apple will launch both the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c.
Sprint One Up will allow customers to get a new phone for no money down. Customers pay down the cost of the phone over the course of two years in monthly installments. Under this scheme, a $650 device would be paid off in $27 per month payments, with any remaining balance paid in the final installment.
Should a customer terminate their contract before the two years are up, the customer is responsible for paying the remaining balance of the device's price. That fee would be due the following month.
The early upgrade aspect kicks in after one year of service. Customers can then trade in the phone they bought the year previous for a new device, whereupon the aforementioned repayment plan and obligations are renewed.
Reportedly, when the program kicks off on September 20, those customers who have already been on contract for at least a year will be eligible to participate. They will, though, be required to trade in their existing phones unless they are eligible for a discounted upgrade. The program is not open to Sprint prepaid customers.
One Up will compete against Verizon's Edge, T-Mobile's Jump, and AT&T's Next early upgrade programs. Sprint is the last of the major United States carriers to implement such a program. Its announcement marks the fulfillment of a trend that was started by T-Mobile earlier this year.
That carrier, continually losing subscribers over the past few years, announced Jump, which allows two smartphone upgrades per year for a $10 per month fee. Soon after, both AT&T and Verizon announced their own competing smartphone upgrade plans.
Observers have previously noted that T-Mobile's plan appears to be the best deal between that carrier, AT&T, and Verizon, due to the fact that T-Mobile offers a discount on the wireless plan as well. Sprint One Up also offers a discount on the wireless plan, meaning it is closer to T-Mobile's offering than it is either of the other two competitors.
Comments
Exactly what I was thinking.
Now I know why Adam and Eve had son much trouble with an Apple.
AT&T might have me right were they want me.
imo you are better off buying unlock and manage youre own upgrades.
I pay $40/month for 1g/month data and everything else unlimited. Virgin mobile (canada) silver plan at $45 minus $5 because I use an unlock phone.
I just went to the AT&T early termination page:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources/early-term-fees.jsp
It says $325 minus $10 for each month completed on your contract.
So in my case I would owe $205.
Gazelle will offer me $310 for my iPhone 5 64GB. So to get a new iPhone 5s I would be out of pocket $294 plus tax.
Then I got to thinking, if I bought the new AT&T iPhone 5s for $399 and immediately requested early termination, that fee would be another $325 according to the AT&T web page. Once your contract responsibility is satisfied, AT&T will allow you to unlock the phone, right? At least they did with my last iPhone. So if you add it up, you could get an unlocked 5s 64GB for $724 plus tax, a savings of $125. Then pay off the early termination of $205 then sell the old iPhone 5 for $310 getting me into a new unlocked iPhone 5s for $621. Sounds too good to be true. I don't really need an unlocked iPhone 5s since I already have an unlocked iPhone 4 for my travels abroad, but it would be nice thing to have anyway. It is kind of complicated and I really don't need the extra savings but interesting none the less.
Hmm so you're talking about opening up a second line and the immediately canceling it.....
I wonder...that may be a loop whole they will have a problem with.
It is too good to be true. You just sold your phone to gazelle twice. The first time was when you offset the early termination fee AND upgraded to a 64gb phone for $294....
So if you add it up, you could get an unlocked 5s 64GB for $724 plus tax, a savings of $125. Then sell the old iPhone 5 for $310 getting me into a new unlocked iPhone 5s for $414. Sounds too good to be true.
It is too good to be true. You just sold your phone to gazelle twice. The first time was when you offset the early termination fee AND upgraded to a 64gb phone for $294....
You are right I did make a mistake but it was not selling the old iPhone twice. I was describing two different scenarios. What I forgot to factor in is the $205 termination fee on the old phone before I sell it on Gazelle. So in scenario #2 the final would be $621.
I just went to the AT&T early termination page:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources/early-term-fees.jsp
It says $325 minus $10 for each month completed on your contract.
So in my case I would owe $205.
Gazelle will offer me $310 for my iPhone 5 64GB. So to get a new iPhone 5s I would be out of pocket $294 plus tax.
Then I got to thinking, if I bought the new AT&T iPhone 5s for $399 and immediately requested early termination, that fee would be another $325 according to the AT&T web page. Once your contract responsibility is satisfied, AT&T will allow you to unlock the phone, right? At least they did with my last iPhone. So if you add it up, you could get an unlocked 5s 64GB for $724 plus tax, a savings of $125. Then pay off the early termination of $205 then sell the old iPhone 5 for $310 getting me into a new unlocked iPhone 5s for $621. Sounds too good to be true. I don't really need an unlocked iPhone 5s since I already have an unlocked iPhone 4 for my travels abroad, but it would be nice thing to have anyway. It is kind of complicated and I really don't need the extra savings but interesting none the less.
https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/ :
"AT&T reserves the right to deny any unlock request that it concludes would result in an abuse of this policy or is part of an effort to defraud AT&T or its customers. AT&T further reserves the right to alter this unlocking policy at its discretion without advance notice."
You are totally right. People that get into this deal are literally leasing the phone, you never own anything. This is outright leasing.
WHY, IF I DIDN’T KNOW BETTER, WHICH I OBVIOUSLY DO, I WOULD SAY THAT THE FOUR MAJOR TELECOMS WERE TALKING TO EACH OTHER BEFORE SAID POLICIES WERE ENACTED SO AS TO MAKE SURE THAT EACH OF THEM DID THE EXACT SAME THING.
BUT THAT’S SILLY.
Why does it shock you? They don't want to find themselves in the position of telling a customer "we don't offer what that other carrier does" unless of course it's the data plans.
They read the press releases just like we do and react accordingly. Copying and collusion are 2 different things.
And raising prices to identical levels simultaneously falls under…
You have a 50/50 shot; have at it.
Raising prices of what? Don't most smartphones cost the same? Did Apple, Samsung, Moto, HTC, etc collude to charge the same price?
WHAT AN EFFING SURPRISE THAT ALL FOUR OF THE MAJOR TELECOM WOULD HAVE THE EXACT SAME POLICIES IN PLACE. I AM SHOCKED BEYOND BELIEF THAT ALL FOUR OF THE MAJOR TELECOMS WOULD FOLLOW IN EACH OTHER’S FOOTSTEPS SO CLOSELY.
WHY, IF I DIDN’T KNOW BETTER, WHICH I OBVIOUSLY DO, I WOULD SAY THAT THE FOUR MAJOR TELECOMS WERE TALKING TO EACH OTHER BEFORE SAID POLICIES WERE ENACTED SO AS TO MAKE SURE THAT EACH OF THEM DID THE EXACT SAME THING.
BUT THAT’S SILLY.
Exact that you are completely and utterly wrong. Although they resemble each other to a certain degree they are all very different. T-Mobile deserves credit for being the first however and kudos to them for changing things up a bit. But the prices and policies couldn't be different like you are asserting.