Sprint is on record to saying its network can handle the iPhone and this certainly puts more fuel to the fire when it comes to the ongoing rumor of the Now Network offering unlimited data-plans to the iPhone.
While Apple has set no date for the next iPhone, it is expected to come in October and Sprint is expected to finally offer the device. The carrier has been very Android-heavy with its phones and trails both AT&T and Verizon in subscriber count by a fair amount. Perhaps offering the Sprint iPhone with an unlimited plan will help it draw more customers.
In a Fierce Wireless report, Chief Financial Officer Joe Euteneuer assured people its network can support the bandwidth-hungry iPhone. What Sprint users should find alarming is his acknowledgement that the iPhone could potentially hurt the company in the near term because of the higher subsidies involved but he said the device has the benefit of improving its brand and reducing customer turnover (editor’s note: duh).
What I found to be even more alarming is his comments on the unlimited plan itself, as Euteneuer said “if we got to a point where we thought that keeping an unlimited plan wasn’t going to create the profitable marketplace that we wanted, then we would have to look for change.”
Honestly, if the iPhone can potentially damage the very advantage Sprint has over the competition when it comes to its unlimited data plan, why even bother bringing the phone to the lineup?
[via cnet]