Briefly: Sprint throttling top 1%, Barnes & Noble may separate Nook business, UK Premier League [u]
Sprint revealed that it throttles about 1% of smartphone users who excessively use data while roaming, while Barnes & Noble is reportedly mulling the separation of its Nook line to outside investors and Apple pulls out of running for TV rights to the U.K.'s Premier League.
Sprint "unlimited data" not unlimited for some
Update: Dow Jones apparently left out the word "roaming" from its quote. According to TechCrunch, Hesse was referring to users who use large amounts of data "off-network." Sprint's contract allows for capping after 300MB of roaming usage.
Sprint Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse revealed at a Thursday investor conference that his company throttles about one percent of data users, bringing the carrier's "Truly Unlimited" ad slogan into question, reports Dow Jones Newswires.
"For those that want to abuse it, we can knock them off," Hesse said of the top one percent of data users.
Sprint, the latest U.S. carrier to sell Apple's iPhone, uses its unlimited data plans to set itself apart from other networks like AT&T and Verizon which employ tiered data plans. The company axed unlimited data access to data cards and tablets last year to clear bandwidth for a rising smartphone market.
It is unclear how much data a customer must use to be in the top one percent, and Hesse fell short of saying what constituted "abuse" of the data plan.
Sprint shares fell 3 percent to end the day at $2.24.
Barnes & Noble may split off Nook business
As part of a warning to investors on Thursday that full-year results for 2010 would miss expectations, Barnes & Noble said it was looking into splitting its Nook line of e-readers into a separate business, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Despite a hardware and digital download sales boost of 70 percent during the holiday season, analysts said that intense spending is needed to keep up with competitors like Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad.
The bookseller also failed to hit expected Nook Simple Touch sales, possibly due to a misjudgment in how Amazon's similar Kindle Touch offering would impact sales.
"We see substantial value in what we've built with our Nook business in only two years, and we believe it's the right time to investigate our options to unlock that value," Chief Executive William Lynch said.
Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader lineup | Source: Barnes & Noble
The company said it was in talks with "with strategic partners, including publishers, retailers and technology companies in international markets" to expand the Nook line overseas, though no official details were given.
Barnes & Noble shares were down 18 percent at the end of Thursday.
Apple unlikely to enter Premier League rights auction
Despite recent reports that Apple would be in the running for broadcast rights to the U.K.'s Premiere League, the Cupertino, Calif, tech company won't be bidding to air the British soccer matches on its much rumored HDTV, according to The Guardian.
Apple will continue using its current model, which takes a cut from content producers through iTunes and the App Store.
British broadcasting company Sky already airs live matches on Apple devices through its SkyGo app, and the Premier League has an existing deal to sell packages through iTunes.
Internet search giant Google is also rumored to be looking into bidding for the lucrative TV contract, possibly as part of its rollout of original content channels for the company's YouTube online video site.
Sprint "unlimited data" not unlimited for some
Update: Dow Jones apparently left out the word "roaming" from its quote. According to TechCrunch, Hesse was referring to users who use large amounts of data "off-network." Sprint's contract allows for capping after 300MB of roaming usage.
Sprint Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse revealed at a Thursday investor conference that his company throttles about one percent of data users, bringing the carrier's "Truly Unlimited" ad slogan into question, reports Dow Jones Newswires.
"For those that want to abuse it, we can knock them off," Hesse said of the top one percent of data users.
Sprint, the latest U.S. carrier to sell Apple's iPhone, uses its unlimited data plans to set itself apart from other networks like AT&T and Verizon which employ tiered data plans. The company axed unlimited data access to data cards and tablets last year to clear bandwidth for a rising smartphone market.
It is unclear how much data a customer must use to be in the top one percent, and Hesse fell short of saying what constituted "abuse" of the data plan.
Sprint shares fell 3 percent to end the day at $2.24.
Barnes & Noble may split off Nook business
As part of a warning to investors on Thursday that full-year results for 2010 would miss expectations, Barnes & Noble said it was looking into splitting its Nook line of e-readers into a separate business, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Despite a hardware and digital download sales boost of 70 percent during the holiday season, analysts said that intense spending is needed to keep up with competitors like Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad.
The bookseller also failed to hit expected Nook Simple Touch sales, possibly due to a misjudgment in how Amazon's similar Kindle Touch offering would impact sales.
"We see substantial value in what we've built with our Nook business in only two years, and we believe it's the right time to investigate our options to unlock that value," Chief Executive William Lynch said.
Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader lineup | Source: Barnes & Noble
The company said it was in talks with "with strategic partners, including publishers, retailers and technology companies in international markets" to expand the Nook line overseas, though no official details were given.
Barnes & Noble shares were down 18 percent at the end of Thursday.
Apple unlikely to enter Premier League rights auction
Despite recent reports that Apple would be in the running for broadcast rights to the U.K.'s Premiere League, the Cupertino, Calif, tech company won't be bidding to air the British soccer matches on its much rumored HDTV, according to The Guardian.
Apple will continue using its current model, which takes a cut from content producers through iTunes and the App Store.
British broadcasting company Sky already airs live matches on Apple devices through its SkyGo app, and the Premier League has an existing deal to sell packages through iTunes.
Internet search giant Google is also rumored to be looking into bidding for the lucrative TV contract, possibly as part of its rollout of original content channels for the company's YouTube online video site.
Comments
http://m.minyanville.com/?guid=4714&catid=5
* unlimited funding subject to terms and conditions and likely only means eighty bucks. but, seriously, it is unlimited.
"For those that want to abuse it, we can knock them off," Hesse said of the top one percent of data users.
How can you abuse something that is 'truly unlimited'? That's like getting kicked out of an all you can eat buffet for eating too much. If their data plan has a limit, to any user, then it's not 'unlimited'.
And just because they aren't perhaps trying to get the OTA broadcast rights to these games doesn't mean that Apple isn't up to something about them. Even Digitimes on occasion gets things kind of correct. Maybe this is a similar time with the Daily Mail. Perhaps instead of OTA, Apple is trying to get an iOS app made similar to how in the US we have the NBA and MBL apps.
How can you abuse something that is 'truly unlimited'? That's like getting kicked out of an all you can eat buffet for eating too much. If their data plan has a limit, to any user, then it's not 'unlimited'.
I understand your point that if they want to offer unlimited amount of data they shouldn't later then throttle users who use said data within the limited scope of the device or time frame, but we also need to realize that unlimited can mean multiple things. You don't go into an all-you-can-eat buffet then come back the next day to resume eating when you are hungry again. We obviously know you are limited to your one session. Same goes with unlimited data. They still aren't capping the amount of data, but further limiting their already slow speeds, which I'm sure is well within their right in the contract Sprint users signed even though it is tacky though likely beneficial to customers overall.
1. Print a rumor that it's in a dramatic bidding war with google over the content, and
2. Print a disclaimer that the first rumor was false.
And in less than 2 days.
Your site is weakened by this shoddy "reporting".
Get the story, and then report it. No half-digested dumps.
Update: It seems the Dow Jones report left a key word out: roaming. Dan Hesse squeezed the word in there, suggesting that Sprint will only consider it abuse when you go data-crazy on a partnered network that isn?t actually theirs (Hesse cites ?a guy in his house in rural Montana? as an example). Sprint?s fine print, for what it?s worth, says they can start capping after 300 MB of ?off-network? data usage.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/05/eve...=Google+Reader
Actually Sprint isn't throttling its users--only those who roam. Clarification provided by TechCrunch (who made the same mistake):
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/05/eve...=Google+Reader
That puts this story in a better light for Sprint, but then the mention of capping at 300MB because it's off network shows once again that there is no truly unlimited data without a barrel full of qualifiers.
That puts this story in a better light for Sprint, but then the mention of capping at 300MB because it's off network shows once again that there is no truly unlimited data without a barrel full of qualifiers.
Very true.
That puts this story in a better light for Sprint, but then the mention of capping at 300MB because it's off network shows once again that there is no truly unlimited data without a barrel full of qualifiers.
What other qualifiers are there?
Apple needs to get this premiership soccer, make no mistake. It would be salient move.
Besides, what would Jony Ive watch on his 50" Apple TV secretly on display in the design labs?
That puts this story in a better light for Sprint, but then the mention of capping at 300MB because it's off network shows once again that there is no truly unlimited data without a barrel full of qualifiers.
Sprint is pretty up front about the fact that the unlimited data is for 'on network use'. They haven't hidden that fact at all. There's really not a 'barrel full of qualifiers' at all.
http://s4gru.spruz.com/pt/Network-Vi...Hesse/blog.htm
He was talking in the future tense not currently and Sprint has always had a policy that discourages people from using an excessive amount of data while roaming because they have to pay through the nose for roaming. All carriers have this policy in place. Usually after 3 successive months when the majority of a customer's data is roaming they will be let out of contract without paying an ETF. A lot of unscrupulous cheapskates in fact will hack their phone to roam only mode to get out of contract and then sell their phone for a profit.
Sprint certainly needs to do something about all the people that are tethering their rooted Android phones. Unlimited data is meant only for the phones not as a replacement ISP for their home computers and iPads. A lot of people on the Sprint forums brag about tethering 20 and even upwards of 50GB or more of data a month without paying for it. I hope they do crack down on all the abusers so the people that actually just use data on their phones aren't punished. People that pay for the WiFi hotspot add on available to their plans will not be targeted in this top 1%, but those people don't tend to be the abusers. It is the Fandroid custom ROM crowd that has been getting a free ride for far too long that needs to pay up or go somewhere else.
But for now at least Sprint is the only remaining carrier that offers unlimited data without throttling. So you really should correct the article.
P.S. Why no article about AT&T recently targeting their top 5% with the unlimited data plan? Seems like a lot of people that used as little as 3GB on AT&T were getting text warnings. How about an article about that?
http://community.sprint.com/baw/comm...-no-throttling
Sprint offers smartphone users unlimited data with no throttling
Posted by EmmyAnd on Jan 6, 2012 1:15:21 PM
Reports that Sprint throttles the top one percent of data users are false. Here are the facts:
Sprint does not throttle any postpaid phone data users for on-network or off-network usage. Sprint is the only national carrier offering smartphone users truly unlimited data with no throttling, metering or overages while on the Sprint network.
Sprint does have terms and conditions which prohibit certain types of data use that may impair other customers' usage or harm or interfere with the network. At yesterday?s investor conference, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse was referring to Sprint?s right to terminate service of data abusers who violate Sprint?s terms and conditions. Customers who abuse our network by violating the terms and conditions will be contacted by Sprint in an effort to have the customer change their usage to comply with their subscriber agreement. Customers who do not change their usage and remain in violation of the terms and conditions may be subject to actions reserved by Sprint, including but not limited to termination. Consistent with our advertising, engaging in such uses will not result in throttling for customers on unlimited data-included plans for phones.