Ting Will Use Sprint's LTE Network Mirroring Sprint's Mid-Year Launches Several new wireless carriers will launch this year, all trying to do things slightly differently. Republic Wireless plans to lower prices by offloading most of the daily traffic to Wi-Fi. FreedomPop promises to offer users a basic free tier of service with low priced data and voice options layered on top. The third upstart is Tucows' Ting, a company we explored back in December that plans to auto-upgrade users up (or down) the sliding tier scale to help users find the best price plan for them. Ting was the first one out of the gate, and their pricing was unveiled back in February. As the chart (right) notes, users are given six "size" no-contract tiers to choose from, allowing them to mix and match voice minutes, SMS, and data limits as needed. Voice and SMS rates are incredibly reasonable (500 minutes cost an impressive $9), while data coming over from Sprint's network is notably less so (2GB will run you $42). Not too surprisingly given they're a Sprint reseller, Ting yesterday stated in a blog post they'll be offering LTE service via Sprint's network when it goes live in a few months. "As an MVNO using the nationwide Sprint network, Ting will offer LTE alongside and in the same places as Sprint," says Ting's Andrew Moore-Crispin. "That means the cities mentioned off the top of this post (Baltimore, Kansas City, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio) will be first, receiving LTE capability mid this year. Next, as Sprint rolls out the LTE network to other major city centers, Ting will be able to offer LTE in those locations at the as well." Ting has yet to announced supported LTE devices, but says they have numerous USB modems, mobile hotspots, and smartphones inbound. We assume pricing will be in line with existing pricing, as Sprint has stated their own LTE pricing will match existing WiMax services. Initial Sprint LTE launch cities are expected to be Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Atlanta, Kansas City and Baltimore.
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 |  | BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH | Re: Prices for devices They're working on BYOD. When that happens, the costs will look a lot better, as used Sprint phones aren't that expensive on Ebay. | |
| | | | | Re: Prices for devices The thing is Sprint does NOT like putting PostPaid phones on prepaid services. Different data bases as many carriers on the MVNO side have already complained about; even customers from Virgin. | |
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 ·Callcentric
| Re: Prices for devices Precisely why I refuse to use Sprint. The company is basically bankrupt yet has this obsession with restricting who should use what and where.
The probably assume that if they block BYOD, we'll just flock to their postpaid plans; which offer little to no value to me.
They can stick their network saturating and practically useless $40 unlimited where the sun does not shine. | |
| | | | | | | Re: Prices for devices lol. Sprint is a bit more than $40 for unlimited; lol.
I use the network but from an MVNO. Better Customer Care than with Sprint.
As i've been saying; if they were smart; they'd spin off ALL of their retail brands; merge Clear and Sprint together and just become a MVNO and be done with it. Open the network fully up and let anyone go at it that wants to and as the $$$. They're slowly opening up their MVNO partners the option to roam; but at a pretty penny which is the reason most won't unlike TING; which is why their prices are so damn high. | |
| | | | | | BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH | Re: Prices for devices It may be because of the cost of the roaming agreement. Verizon only offers it because they are mandated by the federal government to do so, and I'm sure they charge the absolute maximum rate they are allowed to by law. | |
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| | They have the humour of a gerbil From: »ting.com/devices
"Select one of the very small computers below.
(Some of them even make phone calls.)"
and
"If it's the top of the line ye be wanting, look no further"
I refuse to do business with anyone who writes rambling garbage like that. I predict this will become another AMPd mobile in 2-3 years.
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| | | | Re: They have the humour of a gerbil LOL So true, its difficult if not impossible to take them seriously with that type of use of the english language. Although its nice to see they'll have the Samsung Galaxy S2  | |
| | | | I don't even give them 2-3 years. More like a year. Prices will keep customers away. | |
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elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA | Yawn... Ting brings nothing special to the table, and you have to use Sprint's network.
Data rates of $20-30/GB would normally be assailed here as excessive and motivated by the pursuit of obscene profit levels by greedy corporates. Instead, its "notably less reasonable".
Will Karl be so kind the next time he reviews data offerings at $10/GB and less from other carriers? | |
| | csnyder
join:2007-09-10
Grand Rapids, MI | Re: Yawn... It's a great deal for occasional usage. I have wifi access almost all of the time, but it'd be nice to be able get online once in a while when I'm out running errands and need to look something up. I have a smartphone with AT&T (until my contract is up in a few months), but I don't want to pay the monthly charge for a data plan I'd rarely use. With Ting, my occasional data use will be very cheap.
According to Ting, their pricing is indicative of how much it actually costs to provide the service (i.e. how much Sprint charges them). This seems like a great model to me. As much as we all hate caps, data usage isn't free - at least for wireless. | |
| | | csnyder
join:2007-09-10
Grand Rapids, MI | Re: Yawn... BTW, they also allow tethering at no additional charge - all they care about is how many resources you actually utilize. | |
| | | | | | Re: Yawn... I'm not sure tethering accounts for the extra $10+ on each GB | |
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| | | Seriously, the data rates on Ting are a joke. They should at least match AT&T and Verizon at $10/GB. | |
| | | | | Re: Yawn... All of their prices are high compared to other companies- even the small ones. | |
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 morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Ting is the most promising Ting is the most promising of the bunch. The custom plan options are ideal for people or families looking to maximize their dollar.
The down side is paying a lot up front for a device. | |
| | | better options... metro pcs has a talk/text (feature phones) unlimited for $25/month, and as far as data is concerned... buy a tablet and use wifi.. | |
| | | | Re: better options... Except that many areas can't get MetroPCS.
Of the national MVNO's, I think Page Plus is probably the best deal for feature phone users, especially considering that you get access to Verizon's network, and Page Plus will activate any Verizon phone you bring to them. Last time I checked, their own lineup consisted mainly of older phone models and refurbs, but, if you can either live with that or find your own device, it's a good deal. | |
| | | | | Re: better options... Metro is now NATIONAL with roaming partners. You must sign up and have a billing address in a Metro coverage area though but that is it.
and yes i agree with you on Page Plus. Unlimited Talk/Text and some data for $39.99 and its on the VZW network. One of if not the oldest MVNO on their network. They've been around since about 99 or 2000 and still going strong. PagePlus is great for those who want feature phones and don't want to spend a ton of money. | |
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| | tmobile Their recommended service is more expensive that than tmobiles value plan for fifty dollars tmobile will give you unlimited text 500 min and 2gb of data yet ting charges 56 before taxes. | |
| | | | Re: tmobile TMO $50 unlimited is unlimited talk/text and unlimited data (2gigs at 4g).
And their prices are ALL higher than everyone else; including ATT. | |
| | ncbillPremium
join:2007-01-23
Winston Salem, NC | Better deal for data is TMO's $30/month plan (5GB data, unlimited text)
Only 100 minutes/month, but that's easily fixed with GrooveIP & Google Voice. | |
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