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Sprint, Walmart Launch 'Common Cents Mobile'
New prepaid service goes live tomorrow
"In the first quarter of 2010, more than half of the mobile gross additions in the U.S. selected prepaid, and we predict that approximately 70% of the net adds in 2010 will choose plans without a contract," recently stated Sprint executive Dan Schulman. As a result, Sprint's making it clear that they're making their primary focus this year pre-paid cell service. With that in mind, the company announced this week that they're joining with Walmart to make a new service dubbed "Common Cents Mobile," where a minute of talk time -- isn't actually a minute of talk time. The Boy Genius Report explains:
quote:
Click for full size
Minutes are billed at 7¢ a pop, but thanks to "Round Down" billing, a "minute" can last up to 119 seconds. This allows the $20 refill to be good for up to 565 minutes and the $30 up to 848 minutes. Nifty. Also coming in at 7¢ each are text messages, although there is an option for a $20 unlimited messaging package. Data will be available for $1 per megabyte per day.
Cheap, but not? At $1 per megabyte -- this doesn't look like too much fun for heavy data users. Of course like many prepaid services, your choice of handsets isn't going to be particularly stellar in that regard anyway -- though the handsets that are available are inexpensive. Heavier data users can also migrate to one of Sprint's other prepaid brands, like Virgin Mobile (which this week launched unlimited texting and data plans, including Blackberry handsets, for $35 per month). If you're interested, this new service goes live May 15 at roughly 700 Walmart locations around the country.
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88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

$1 per MB?

What a joke. We all know it doesn't cost them 1/1000th that.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by 88615298:

What a joke. We all know it doesn't cost them 1/1000th that.
So don't buy it.
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by pnh102:

said by 88615298:

What a joke. We all know it doesn't cost them 1/1000th that.
So don't buy it.
The outrage stems from a lack of options offering legitimately priced services.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by sonicmerlin:
said by pnh102:
said by 88615298:

What a joke. We all know it doesn't cost them 1/1000th that.
So don't buy it.
The outrage stems from a lack of options offering legitimately priced services.
Doesnt just about every cell company have data prices like this? Since that is the case, it would seem that yes, these prices ARE legit, and are more or less THE going rate. There is also no point in saying what you (or others) think the costs per MB are to the cell companies because it comes off as though you are saying a business is not allowed to make money, or if they are...only a certain amount.
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

amigo_boy

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by swintec:

Doesnt just about every cell company have data prices like this? Since that is the case, it would seem that yes, these prices ARE legit, and are more or less THE going rate.
This is like BF's example of a $200 burger. Wireless carriers are using finite public airwaves. Anyone can't just "compete" (like they could if McDonalds charged $200 for a burger).

Wireless looks a lot like monopolistic price fixing, not simply the "going rate." We can never know because we can never "go" with more than a handful of companies due to their dependence on a limited public resource (airwaves).

Mark

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Re: $1 per MB?

Many burgers are sold as loss leaders, or pretty darn close (especially with the double cheeseburger wars going on)...Many BK franchisees were up in arms when BK launched there double cheeseburgers last year, stating the selling price was what there cost was, or less than there cost (depending on the part of the country they were in).

Anyways, with that said, look at fountain drinks. To fill those cups costs the restaurants CENTS and they charge quite a bit. This isnt just fast food but most restaurants. $1.50...$2.00. Every business has there cash cow product.

I think cell companies are getting people in the door with voice minutes and making up the slack with data.

In the end, again, what does it matter what it truly costs to provide data (or any product / service)....are we saying how much a business is allowed to make now?
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

amigo_boy

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by swintec:

Many burgers are sold as loss leaders,
... look at fountain drinks.
Those two examples don't change the fact that anyone can open a burger joint and compete if the existing burger joints set their prices exorbitantly high.

Nobody can do that with wireless because those companies are dependent upon a finite public resource (the airwaves). It's like a private contractor taking over all the national parks, charging $200 for entrance, and saying "it's just the going rate."

Loss leaders are just price wars. If we had that "problem" with wireless carriers, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Exorbitantly-priced drinks don't preclude anyone from asking for water, or bringing their own drink to McDonalds.

Which takes us back to wireless carriers: If BK, McDonalds and Wendy's charged $20 for a drink, anyone could get a piece of that action by opening a burger joint that charges only $10 for a drink.
said by swintec:

In the end, again, what does it matter what it truly costs to provide data (or any product / service)
It feels like you're changing the topic. How can you know "what it truly costs" when the market is dependent upon a finite public resource, and fresh competition is prevented from entering?
said by swintec:

....are we saying how much a business is allowed to make now?
Maybe we should. Maybe wireless carriers should be treated like a public utility. Their profits and rates monitored to ensure the public's bestowing near-monopoly status isn't abused?

Mark
i2Fuzzy
join:2009-02-25
Garland, TX

i2Fuzzy

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

Maybe we shouldn't. You want innovation? Then you need competition. Once they're a "public utility" all real competition ceases and innovation dies with it.

Public airwaves? Really? Wireless carriers pay vast amounts of money to use those blocks of spectrum. Sure they get a huge return on investment, but at that point the airwaves are theirs to do with as they see fit (within FCC regulations).

I'm not saying $1/MB is a fair price, but are the phones they'll market with the service really capable of using enough data for that price to matter? I'd say they're pricing it artificially high in order to discourage users from finding a way to hack their Moto Droids and HTC Heros onto the lower-priced service.
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

amigo_boy

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by i2Fuzzy:

You want innovation? Then you need competition.
I agree with your point. But, we don't have competition when a limited number of providers base their business upon finite public resource (airwaves). That's a recipe for monopolistic practices.

I agree that emerging technologies benefit from lower regulation. That argument especially applied in 1994 (when cell phones were rare, and the size of your head).

But, at what point does something that become commonplace, and harmed by a monopolistic environment?

IMO, the part of the wireless companies that is old, mature and widely-adopted would benefit from the kind of "break up" that we did with the telcos a few decades ago. It was that kind of "market" intervention that allowed innovation to occur (while keeping the old stuff under regulatory controls to ensure the monopoly wouldn't abuse the public's trust in allowing it to be created in the first place).

Mark

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

1 edit

swintec to amigo_boy

Premium Member

to amigo_boy
said by amigo_boy:

Exorbitantly-priced drinks don't preclude anyone from asking for water, or bringing their own drink to McDonalds.
Exorbitantly priced data doesnt preclude anyone from not using data on there phones to begin with, or using a phone with built in Wi-Fi either, right? Sure it is a trade off and can be annoying, but so is getting water when I wanted a Dr. Pepper.
said by amigo_boy:

How can you know "what it truly costs" when the market is dependent upon a finite public resource.
True, I suppose the same could be asked to karl when he puts out weekly "reports" on outrageous data prices, whether it be cable companies or wireless companies. Seems he always tries to eludes to what the cost per gig actually is, as if it really matters in the end.

Users make comments about it as well about what they think the cost is.

Finite public resources, coupled with huge increases in demand drives costs higher.
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

amigo_boy

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by swintec:

Seems he always tries to eludes to what the cost per gig actually is, as if it really matters in the end.
I may agree with you. I think this site is just the flip side of the same partisan coin.

But, my argument is that you can never know what the cost per gig actually is when the "market" is limited to a handful of providers who may have grown comfortable with their unchallengable status.

You're the one who argued as if "markets get it right." The basis of that argument is that competition exists. I don't see how it can when a relatively few have a complete lock on the very basis of their service: public airwaves.

That's like giving Cox easements and rights of way within a community, and then saying they're charging what the market will bear -- when we have no idea what the market will bear because nobody else has the luxury of those easements and rights of way (the product of society, not the "market.").
said by swintec:

Finite public resources, coupled with huge increases in demand drives costs higher.
Again, you're making a supply-and-demand ("market") argument.

If I owned all the water in the country, that too would be a supply-and-demand equation. But, not the way you're trying to depict it.

Mark
amigo_boy

amigo_boy to swintec

Member

to swintec
said by swintec:

Sure it is a trade off and can be annoying, but so is getting water when I wanted a Dr. Pepper.
BTW: I can take my Dr. P into McDonalds or Burger King.

What's the wireless analogy to that?

Mark

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by amigo_boy:
said by swintec:

Sure it is a trade off and can be annoying, but so is getting water when I wanted a Dr. Pepper.
BTW: I can take my Dr. P into McDonalds or Burger King.

What's the wireless analogy to that?
For one, you are lucky..I tried that once and got shot down.

In this case, use movie concessions instead...can you bring your own popcorn and soda into there? Does one pay the 89.95 for a soda or make the trade off and just use the water fountain?
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

amigo_boy

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by swintec:

In this case, use movie concessions instead...can you bring your own popcorn and soda into there? Does one pay the 89.95 for a soda or make the trade off and just use the water fountain?
Depends on the theater? I know a couple independents that don't care.

Which gets back to how anyone can open a movie theater. We have more reason to believe that the existing prices are a result of supply and demand.

We don't have that with wireless carriers.

That's not to say good things didn't develop from the quasi monopoly. Maybe wireless communications wouldn't have developed (or, developed as fast as they did) without their ownership of public airwaves.

But, that's not the same as a "market." At some point I think it will be reasonable to ask if they've made sufficient profit from their investment, and how to break them up so they're incented to continue innovating (and not rest on their socially-assisted monopoly).

Mark

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by amigo_boy:

Which gets back to how anyone can open a movie theater. We have more reason to believe that the existing prices are a result of supply and demand.
Whats stopping anyone with funding to start there own wireless company? Look at Metro PCS for example. This is the same for cable companies, if you have the capitol you are fully able to start your own as well. Many franchise agreements allow for it, and if they do not, you would need to lobby town governments like the rest.

If no one wants to take the risk why should current players in the market be dumped on for others lack of interest in over building?
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

amigo_boy

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by swintec:

Whats stopping anyone with funding to start there own wireless company?
Which frequency would their towers broadcast on?
said by swintec:

If no one wants to take the risk why should current players in the market be dumped on for others lack of interest in over building?
I think the question is whether they can. As far as I know, there is no spectrum available.

Mark
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

Sprint MVNO.

ua
@bellsouth.net

ua to swintec

Anon

to swintec
said by swintec:

In this case, use movie concessions instead...can you bring your own popcorn and soda into there? Does one pay the 89.95 for a soda or make the trade off and just use the water fountain?
Neither. Hide your own drinks in your camera bag. /humor
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to amigo_boy

Member

to amigo_boy
if you want to decide how much I pay for services, why don't you go to the link i provided and tell Sprint you want to be an MVNO and compete with them.
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

1 recommendation

amigo_boy

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by hottboiinnc4:

if you want to decide how much I pay for services, why don't you go to the link i provided and tell Sprint you want to be an MVNO and compete with them.
Compete with them, using their infrastructure, on their terms?

We might want to revisit the meaning of "compete?"

Mark
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

its called negotiation for a reason.. how else do you think others get away with their pricing being so low- can we say Millenicom for 3g?

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

1 recommendation

dvd536 to swintec

Premium Member

to swintec
said by swintec:

Many burgers are sold as loss leaders, or pretty darn close (especially with the double cheeseburger wars going on)...Many BK franchisees were up in arms when BK launched there double cheeseburgers last year, stating the selling price was what there cost was, or less than there cost (depending on the part of the country they were in).
BULLSHIT! its all about double digit profits. the only way that burger came close to costing what they said it was is if they were making it like the one you see on TV[which they aren't] that is totally slathered in condiments!
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
said by pnh102:

said by 88615298:

What a joke. We all know it doesn't cost them 1/1000th that.
So don't buy it.
That's your answer to everything.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by 88615298:

That's your answer to everything.
Well, why choose to be ripped off?

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

Exactly... let them fail and don't bail them out.
vote with your wallet.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to 88615298

Premium Member

to 88615298
said by 88615298:

What a joke. We all know it doesn't cost them 1/1000th that.
And people getting these cheap phones won't be using data anyway. It is there for the very rare chance someone needs to check some web site in an emergency.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

2 recommendations

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

said by FFH5:

said by 88615298:

What a joke. We all know it doesn't cost them 1/1000th that.
And people getting these cheap phones won't be using data anyway. It is there for the very rare chance someone needs to check some web site in an emergency.
Doesn't matter. Just because a cheeseburger isn't a necessity means McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's should charge $100 for one.

I just long for the days when providing a good product or service at a reasonable price and actually caring about your customers meant something.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

1 recommendation

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: $1 per MB?

If you don't think it is fair and you could do better here is a link for you; »www.sprint.com/wholesale ··· no.shtml
33358088 (banned)
join:2008-09-23

33358088 (banned) to 88615298

Member

to 88615298
but now your gonna pay it so why bother complain ...move along

toly85
@rr.com

toly85 to 88615298

Anon

to 88615298
said by 88615298:

What a joke. We all know it doesn't cost them 1/1000th that.
It might not cost them $1 per MB but lets factor in the cost of cell towers, maintenance, paying the cost of running a call center for support, paying taxes, employee benefits, the t3 lines that feed the cell towers, etc... So yes while it might not cost them $1 to buy the 1mb it does cost money to run a company.

How about you go start a business, buy the product and then resell the product to me almost at cost and make sure you can still pay your business insurance, keep your store open, pay the electricity bill, pay for your Business internet connection, buy your own health insurance, pay your business phone, etc... After you do all that for about 6 months give me a call and tell me how much money you have made or if you a going bankrupt because you have a poor business model.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to 88615298

Member

to 88615298
Then pay $25 per month to Virgin Mobile for 300 minutes and unlimited texting + data.

On CCM data is an "extra" for people who might happen to need it every once in awhile. Would you rather data not be available?

Again, there's another option if you want cheap data: Virgin Mobile. Please find whine about. something else to

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Might Have To Look Into It

When I decided that my wife's cell phone cost too much I found that I would not be saving anything and possibly pay more if I went with services like TracFone and Net10.

I'll definitely have to look into this.

••••••

OldschoolDSL
Premium Member
join:2006-02-23
Indian Orchard, MA

2 edits

OldschoolDSL

Premium Member

Almost competitive price to VoIp

So 7¢ (0.07) for 2 minutes (60 seconds x 2 = 120 seconds - 1 = 119 seconds. So it is 1 second off).

That is 3.5¢ (3 1/2 cents) per minute (0.07 / 2).

It's almost competitive to your "average" name brand VoIp (1 cent per minute).

Maybe worth checking out to make phone calls, which the "average" user is looking for.

•••••••••••

MTBikerChris
Premium Member
join:2001-08-28
Erie, CO

MTBikerChris

Premium Member

Who go's to China-mart for a cell phone?

Really who does? this place is a joke.

•••••••

MovieLover76
join:2009-09-11
Cherry Hill, NJ
(Software) pfSense
Asus RT-AC68
Asus RT-AC66

MovieLover76

Member

That is no deal

No one is gonna be able to reach those numbers though, as no one will tailor their cell phone talking with a stop watch. it's about 428 minutes for $30 is the most you can count on, that's pretty close to a contract price and with a contract you get a deal on a cool phone not a pos prepaid phone

As for texting it amounts to 71 text messages for $5
142 for $10
214 for $15
$20 is standard on contract plans, except tmobile which is actually cheaper

$1 a megabyte is a total ripoff, that would be $250 - $400 a month for me lol.

I think most people other than extremely light users would be better off on sprint or tmobile based on price and features.

AT&T and Verizon are a little more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

••••
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

2 edits

Mr Matt

Member

Why not implement 6 second billing.

The big gouge is billing customers in 60 second increments. One benefit of 6 Second billing is that it reduces minutes used by about 20% because it reduced rounding error. An example of rounding error is when a customer ends a call one second into the next minute and is charged for a full minutes of usage. With 6 second billing the largest overcharge is 5 seconds. Do not forget that these prepaid plans do not include no charge night and weekend or mobile to mobile minutes.

•••••••••••
mob (banned)
On the next level..
join:2000-10-07
San Jose, CA

mob (banned)

Member

Here's something funny from the past...

»Interesting

from this report »Sprint May Mount WiMax Towers On Walmarts [95] comments

Just sayin.....

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven

Member

TracFone's Straight Talk is a better deal..

Let's compare..
said by "Sprint's Common Cents Mobile" :
$20 Card (up to 565min) or $30 Card (up to 848min)
$0.07/min Voice (rounded down)
$0.07/Text
$1/MB
said by "TracFone's Straight Talk" :
$30/mo
1000 Minutes
1000 Texts
30MB Mobile Web Access
Calls to 411 at no extra charge
$45/mo
Unlimited Minutes
Unlimited Texts
Unlimited Mobile Web Access
Unlimited Calls to 411
I'd go with the Straight Talk plan.

••••••

toro
join:2006-01-27
Scarborough, ON

toro

Member

That doesn't look too bad to me

Prepaid is mostly for low usage customers who don't do data anyways, so I think the prices are actually pretty good.
Compare with prepaid cellphones in Canada: lowest per minute rate is 25 cents (where the big guys actually charge more like 35 cents).
When does the credit expire if it's not used ?

•••••

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

2 edits

SysOp

Member

7 cents a min is the only deal here

My common sense tells me:

The plan is .07 cents per min, not .035 cents per min.

If I talk 10 minutes, I am billed .70 cents.
If I talk 10 minutes and 30 seconds I am still paying .70 cents.

Common Cents rounds the last minute only.

hamburglar
join:2002-04-29
united state

hamburglar

Member

Re: 7 cents a min is the only deal here

I pay about $.08/min with net10, and all minutes roll over each month. Oh, and it's on Verizon's network... this Sprint offering is warm at best.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: 7 cents a min is the only deal here

So you bought the $400 2-year 5000-minute airtime card? Whew, that's a LOT of minutes...

According to my math you're spending at least $16.67 per month on service ($400 / 24 months) which is 67% more than Common Cents's minimum...

That said, Page Plus Cellular will give you 200 minutes for $80. 4c/min.

SLD
Premium Member
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA

1 recommendation

SLD

Premium Member

Please...

Don't feed the Walmart!

•••••••

BillRoland
Premium Member
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL

BillRoland

Premium Member

Another Sprint failure

This one is going nowhere. Only Sprint could come up with a business plan whereby they create 4 different divisions whose soul purpose is to cannibalize the others.
vintagewino
join:2003-07-22
Grimsby, ON

vintagewino

Member

Re: Another Sprint failure

All the biggies are taking lessons from each other. I think both Bell & Rogers up here have at least 3 PAYG plans each all under different names just to add to the confusion.

asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdfdf

Anon

I don't get the idea that these are pay per minute plans...

Everyone is focused on the "7c per minute" but the service has a 30 or 60 day refill interval. This means that you are paying $15-20 per month minimum, even if you talk for 5 minutes.

You can call it per minute but it is really the old flat monthly fee for up to X minutes. I have per minute long distance on my phone line, for example. I pay a high per minute rate but if I don't use long distance this month I pay nothing. If I use 5 minutes next month I pay for 5 minutes. This is the way per minute should work.

This doesn't seem to me very different from most other low end monthly plans. The marketing is just changed to make it sound different. If they are trying to appeal to low usage voice customers I don't see how this is superior to some of the prepaid plans from other companies, with longer intervals, that are actually geared toward the needs of people who don't need a consistent bundle of minutes per month.
vintagewino
join:2003-07-22
Grimsby, ON

vintagewino

Member

Re: I don't get the idea that these are pay per minute plans...

The PAYG plan has its place. If a person only wants the phone for the odd use (some might call it "emergency use"), where you may only use a few minutes per month, it's THE way to go. If you keep the phone at your head 24/7, PAYG is the dumbest thing to do. Let's keep it in perspective.

Had a phone on a plan for 10 years. By the time you figured in plan costs, System Access Fee, etc., for OUR usage patterns, it came out close to $2/minute. Dumped that phone & plan almost 3 years ago, went PAYG. Ended up with a substantial credit for air time.

Had a situation recently for 2 months where that phone had to be used A LOT (all long distance). Used up almost $200 in credits. Still have a fair amount in credits outstanding. A phone on a plan would have killed me.

Each situation is different. Don't do data, downloading or browsing with it. What works for me will likely NOT work for you, and vice versa.

old_dawg
"I Know Noting..."
join:2001-09-22
Westminster, MD

old_dawg

Member

Nice

Continuing to hemorrhage customers, Sprint keeps sticking fingers in the dike.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Nice

This is WM's baby. It's just another MVNO and Sprint's Prepaid unit is doing great!

amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA

amarryat

Member

Rounding to 0

So if the call is less than a minute, does it round to 0?
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Rounding to 0

Negative.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

confusing as it is..

isn't it confusing as it is to compare these "low cost" pre-paid services to one another?

the regular tracfone has the lowest cost of ownership but the cost of minutes vary depending upon certain variables such as the double minutes for life, cost of cards, bonus minutes (codes), discount purchase of cards from a wholesaler,etc.

sprint always seems to make things complicated. I think a 5-10 cent cost (depending upon how many minutes purchased) with a 90 day window of use-- that rolls over if you add another ppd card before expiration. also, 6 second billing increments also make sense.

back in the days of the "long distance" price wars.. minority carriers utilized this strategy (6 second billing) to steal away customers from competitors such as sprint and eventually sprint adopted this billing method for a while.

the other elephant in the room is the quality of handsets.. we've always seen the more feature filled handsets going to the more costly provider. want an mp3 player or decent camera or other whizbang features? expect to pay more for the service (in addition to the phone) too. this is even across the walled garden of net10||tracfone.

Bob_Who
@o1.com

1 recommendation

Bob_Who

Anon

This is still a rip off, afterall, its still Sprint

$20 a month, bottom line. Half of the 39.99*/mo price point. (*$46.84 or so on my California bill after fees and taxes)

So flipping what. Its RADIO, which used to be FREE.

If you take every dime ever spent on ADVERTISING CELLULAR that accounts for more of the cost than anything else.

No matter how you slice and dice it, cellular is and will always be a TOTAL RIP OFF because it is in the hands of a few corporate monsters who have claimed the bandwidth and have every intention of extorting every possible penny from the market until our dying day, or thereafter, if possible. Until we actually have competition in the market, or we rewrite the LAW and castrate these bloodsuckers, we are screwed.

For example, we must, once again, buy another unnecessary cellphone to add to our collection of toxic land fill. The fact that my old Sprint phone can't be used on this SPRINT network is not only ludicrous, it should be a crime and as harshly dealt with as an oil spill. Evil Greedy Wasteful Ripoff. Period. Corporations should exceed our expectations, not consistently FAIL to meet them.

Screwing citizens for the benefit of shareholders may be legal and ethical, but its immoral and uncivilized to screw the 'many' for the benefit of the 'few'. Ultimately this needs to change in all corporate commerce, or else pretty soon our diet will be to "eat the rich" instead of eating soylent green happy meals.

Lobbyists can buy politicians, but they better start paying the poor before there's a public revolt.

RR Conductor
Ridin' the rails
Premium Member
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
ARRIS SB6183
Netgear R7000

RR Conductor

Premium Member

Sprint as a partner, not too great.

I wonder why they chose Sprint to do this with? They don't have coverage in many areas (mine being one, they roam on U.S. Cellular and Verizon up here), get set to roam a lot if you leave the highways and biways. Besides, their customer service isn't that good.
DarnellP
join:2004-10-12
Las Vegas, NV

DarnellP

Member

Re: Sprint as a partner, not too great.

I'm just curious, ilvla, have you actually ever used Sprint yourself or are you just parroting what you may have heard from others regarding customer service?

DumbDumb
@comcast.net

DumbDumb

Anon

Socialism

If you all want a socialist lifestyle. Move to Cuba. It doesn't matter what it costs a company to provide a service. They can charge whatever they feel. ($100 per MB if they wish). if one does not like it, then dont do business with that company. it is as simple as that
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Re: Socialism

said by DumbDumb :

If you all want a socialist lifestyle. Move to Cuba. It doesn't matter what it costs a company to provide a service. They can charge whatever they feel. ($100 per MB if they wish). if one does not like it, then dont do business with that company. it is as simple as that
So, in your theory of the world since BP is the current "FACE" of spilled oil, there would be a 100% (or damned close) boycott of their end-use product(s) mostly gasoline. Unless they undercut the market place to gain back customers. Problem is consumers are more like sheep than savvy free market consumers. Take Apple's success in just about any market they enter.. even this Ipad Madness... a once dead market because of the costs involved & lack of any appeal outside the business consumer. Look how the sheep flock to Apple ipads because the Steve Jobs mass hypnosis goes "Baaaaah!"

Don't take this to mean Sprint will have any success breaking through because as I hinted at in an earlier post consumers aren't smart enough to figure out if this plan will be cost effective for them or not (total cost of ownership/bottom line price after all taxes/fees/charges etc). Disruptive pricing would look more like 5 cents a minute with 6 second rounding plus smart hansets (with wifi/apps/os) topping out at $150 depending upon feature sets (equivalent to a 16gb iphone). Sprint's got a ways to go to make pre-paid a more successful market than $50 boost mobile.
OCP
Premium Member
join:2004-10-11
USA

OCP

Premium Member

CDMA

Looks like CDMA phones only. The plan expires too fast to be useful to me also.

I'm sticking with GSM until 4G is ready to use and maybe for a while after. I invested in an unlocked smartphone and I want to average the cost out for a while.
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