Sprint joins chorus of carrier updates, reveals its own unlimited data plan
On the heels of other carrier updates, Sprint has also revised its wireless plans, giving two phones unlimited data for $100 per month.
Sprint's Unlimited Freedom plan has unlimited talk, text, and what it calls "optimized streaming video." Sprint's new plan costs $60 for a single line, $40 for a second, and $30 per line after two, up to 10 lines of service.
Boost Mobile, Sprint's prepaid brand, has a similar offer it calls "Unlimited Unhook'd." It features the same unlimited offerings including the down-sampled streaming video and sells for $50 a month for a single line, and $30 per month each additional line, up to five lines total.
Video streaming from Sprint is cut to 480p resolution. Gaming is limited to 2 megabits per second. Music streams are restrained to 500 kilobits per second, which will only impact some "lossless" audio streams and will have no impact on Apple Music quality.
CEO of Sprint Marcelo Claure said that the company initially resisted transcoding streaming video to a lower resolution and bitrate. However, Sprint claims that customers asked about the video could barely tell the difference between a higher source resolution, and the 480p transcoded video stream on mobile screens.
Restrictions on mobile hotspot tethering are not known at this time.
The new Sprint and Boost Mobile data plans will be offered to consumers on Aug. 19.
Thursday's new data plan launch by Sprint is the third carrier update in a week. AT&T updated its own data plans skewed in favor of customers seeking more mobile data, across fewer devices. T-Mobile's new plan emphasizes family plan holders with multiple devices.
Sprint's Unlimited Freedom plan has unlimited talk, text, and what it calls "optimized streaming video." Sprint's new plan costs $60 for a single line, $40 for a second, and $30 per line after two, up to 10 lines of service.
Boost Mobile, Sprint's prepaid brand, has a similar offer it calls "Unlimited Unhook'd." It features the same unlimited offerings including the down-sampled streaming video and sells for $50 a month for a single line, and $30 per month each additional line, up to five lines total.
Video streaming from Sprint is cut to 480p resolution. Gaming is limited to 2 megabits per second. Music streams are restrained to 500 kilobits per second, which will only impact some "lossless" audio streams and will have no impact on Apple Music quality.
CEO of Sprint Marcelo Claure said that the company initially resisted transcoding streaming video to a lower resolution and bitrate. However, Sprint claims that customers asked about the video could barely tell the difference between a higher source resolution, and the 480p transcoded video stream on mobile screens.
Restrictions on mobile hotspot tethering are not known at this time.
The new Sprint and Boost Mobile data plans will be offered to consumers on Aug. 19.
Thursday's new data plan launch by Sprint is the third carrier update in a week. AT&T updated its own data plans skewed in favor of customers seeking more mobile data, across fewer devices. T-Mobile's new plan emphasizes family plan holders with multiple devices.
Comments
I have a brand new iPad Pro sitting next to me, with the Apple SIM. I've been trying to make the Mobile Broadband Pass for a week. Doesn't work. The signup screen says to "try again later."
If you contact Sprint for assistance, they tell you to contact Boost or Virgin Mobile (which are their prepaid brands)... But, you'll need the phone number and pin to your account for assistance.
Just go elsewhere.
I wish Apple had their own carrier services.
What kind of an idiot is going to buy a $1000 phone, that has all of the fancy new features, super hi res screen, beautiful colors, HD everything, only to watch pixelated, low quality videos, and gaming and audio is also reduced quality?
That's what it says in the article. I stream Amazon Prime also from time to time, and it looks fine, but my connection is not limited to 480p.
You should be able to use data anyway you want. If I want an HD video stream, tethering, etc, that should be allowed. If this would be too taxing on the network, then go back to limited data plans until you can truly offer an unlimited plan.
Customers should have a choice in how they use their data.