Longtime iPhone users suddenly have choices in front of them when it comes to U.S. carriers, with the iPhone 4S representing an opportunity to jump ship from AT&T to Verizon or Sprint. All three U.S.
iPhone carriers say they’re going with 4G LTE, which strongly points to the iPhone 5 being 4G LTE when it arrives (although there’s no guarantee of that). Sprint’s current nationwide (quasi) 4G network suggests it’ll build LTE nationwide as well.
Then there’s mobile data usage. From email and web surfing to online maps and social networking and social gaming, there’s more data usage on smartphones than ever. AT&T stopped offering unlimited data plans to new customers awhile ago, but still grandfathers in its longtime customers. Verizon offered unlimited data to new customers up until this summer, but has since closed that door as well.
Sprint still offers unlimited data plans to new customers and is using that fact as a tactic to try to get existing iPhone users to move to Sprint as of the iPhone 4S. For those already grandfathered in on AT&T, moving to Verizon means giving up unlimited data, while moving to Sprint comes down to which carrier you trust not to pull the unlimited plug on you.
Even once the iPhone 5 release date arrives, buyers will be working with an incomplete set of data regarding the future of each of the three iPhone carriers. But we’re in a particularly transitional spot in late 2011, with regards to the future of mobile networks, the future of mobile data, and the future of the iPhone itself. Here’s more on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5.
Sprint announced Thursday that it will ditch its unlimited 4G mobile broadband offering.
Starting with the next billing cycle, customers' "on-network monthly data allowance will no longer include unlimited 4G," Sprint said in a notice on its Web site.
Until now, Sprint has offered three separate plans: 3GB of 3G data with unlimited 4G data; 5GB of 3G data and unlimited 4G; and 10GB of 3G and unlimited 4G.
Overages will cost $.05/MB, and users will have 100MB of off-network roaming, with $0.25/MB in overages (see the chart below).
Pricing will not change, Sprint said.
Sprint will also limit data usage via a phone's mobile hotspot.
"Currently, if you use your phone's Mobile Hotspot add-on, the Mobile Hotspot data usage is combined with your phone data usage," Sprint said. "Effective on your next bill following notification, your monthly mobile hotspot on-network data usage will be limited to 5GB of 3G or combined 3G/4G usage dependent upon device capability."
Any data usage above 5GB will cost $.05/MB, while monthly off-network data will still be limited to 300MB. Pricing for this option will also not change and Sprint said "if your phone plan contains unlimited data, you will continue to enjoy unlimited data usage on your phone while on the Sprint network."
All-you-can-eat data ran up against booming demand this week as Sprint Nextel became the last big U.S. carrier to end unlimited mobile broadband plans. On Thursday, Sprint notified subscribers that its unlimited data plans for all devices except phones would be discontinued. On other devices, such as tablets, netbooks and mobile hotspots, the use of Sprint's 4G network will be capped, as use of the carrier's 3G network already was. Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile USA have already capped their mobile broadband plans.
"Unlimited data plans are unsustainable. Sprint also benefited from having the nation's first 4G infrastructure, the WiMax network launched in 2008 and built out by Clearwire, which is majority-owned by Sprint. Both WiMax and LTE (Long-Term Evolution) 4G networks handle data more efficiently than 3G networks. While it was still selling unlimited 4G data, Sprint boasted that the high capacity of that network allowed it to offer that feature. "Any wireless network has limits," Gold said.
Several measures show mobile data booming. Sprint's 4G network, operated by Clearwire, is no exception.
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