It looks like the trend is toward tiered data plans, as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless have implemented multiple ways to purchase data beyond just the unlimited data plan. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said the company doesn’t have plans for tiered services but he left the door open for it in the future.
Speaking at the D Dive conference Tuesday, the Sprint CEO was asked if the third-largest mobile operator planned to implement tiered data plans. According to All Things D:
Customers will pay a premium for simplicity. Even if it’s not in their best economic interest, they will go with the unlimited plan. We were the first to come out with truly unlimited text, voice and data with the Simply Everything plan.
When asked directly if Sprint would go to tiered data plans, he said, “So far, we aren’t.” That’s not very convincing statement for the long-term but the all-in unlimited plans could be an easy way to stand out from the crowd.
I’ve long since said Sprint is one of the best values for smartphones owners, particularly if you use your device in a certain way. The cheapest smartphone plan costs about $70 a month for unlimited data and texting with 450 minutes of talk time. But you also get unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling with that plan, so it essentially turns out to be unlimited talk time if most of your calls are to other cell phones.
The Simply Everything plan costs about $100 a month for unlimited everything. I used to have this when I was on Sprint and, while it was a little bit costly every month, it was a joy not having to count how many text messages I sent out. Now that I’m on Google Voice, I’m not too concerned about counting text messages, but it’s still nice not having to worry about that kind of stuff.
[Via All Things D]