According to a report in CNET, Sprint will be adding $10 to the monthly bill of iDEN customers who don’t switch to the carrier’s CDMA push-to-talk service. This charge will be levied starting January 2013. Sprint hopes this extra fee will encourage customers to move off the iDEN service, which Sprint is slowly shutting down. The carrier hopes to sunset its iDEN network by June 30, 2013. Sprint spokesman Mark Bonavia said,
“Customers that migrate prior to January will likely find a price plan comparable to what they have now. They are also eligible to receive a variety of very attractive device offers.”
iDEN is still popular among construction and public safety workers, but its time is waning. Sprint no longer sells iDEN devices and is pushing customers to Direct Connect handsets that offer push-to-talk over CDMA. Sprint hopes to use the liberated iDEN spectrum for its growing LTE network.
[Via CNET]