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Sprint unveils new affordable family plan with 20GB of data for $100

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It hasn’t been long since Brightstar founder Marcelo Claure was named Sprint CEO and it seems they’re already making key moves that’ll help get their name back in the positive limelight. Sprint has revealed a new family plan that promises more value than any of the competitors.

For $100 per month through the entirety of 2015, you and up to 9 other folks can share a pool of 20GB of 3G and 4G data, plus an extra 2GB per line on all devices. Sprint contends it’s even better than T-Mobile’s newest $100 4-line plan, which gives you 10GB to split between those folks. Here’s how they’re breaking it down against similar offerings from other carriers:

sprint framily 4 line

Of course, the value slowly diminishes as you add more than 4 lines, but it still turns out to be a pretty good deal no matter how many lines you have. We’re not entirely sure where these prices will end up after 2015 expires, but we’ve reached out to Sprint to find out. We imagine both Sprint and T-Mobile’s prices will hike to the realm of the other two big carriers at that point. For now, though, there isn’t a much better deal out there if you and a big group of family or friends don’t mind sharing a large pool of data.

The most exciting thing about this announcement is that Sprint says they’re not through yet — we’re asked to keep our eyes peeled for even more goodness in the weeks or months to come. For that, we tip our hats to Sprint, their new CEO and the benefits that tough competition breeds.

[via Sprint]

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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39 Comments

  1. Only if their LTE actually works….
    Plus they really need to remove that nasty “spark” spinning thing.

    1. Agree with the spark spinning thing, its just plain ugly lol.

  2. Sprint sucks balls.

  3. Unless you’re in a Spark city with a capable phone it’s still not worth it, there have been times that I’ve only pulled 2.3 mbps down with 4 bars on LTE while my brother was pulling 19 down on T-Mobile with 4 bars during our speed test comparison.

    1. Huh. I’m in a city that isn’t Spark and have constantly pulled down 30 on Sprint. In fact, I just got a T-Mobile hotspot yesterday to test out their “improved” coverage and service. STILL get Edge at my house where Sprint and Verizon get 4G LTE. Needless to say, I may be sending this T-Mobile hotspot back pretty quickly.

    2. I get above 30 mbps when I’m on Spark which actually seems pretty reliable in Houston, it’s the first time in years I’ve been happy with Sprint’s speeds

  4. Sprint is becoming the new metroPCS. And yes, I’m fully aware that T-Mob just bought them.

    Cheapest doesn’t always means best, you definitely getting what you pay for

    1. Except even after T-Mo bought Metro PCS, their coverage is still worst among all four major carriers in the U.S.

      1. Yes, it is, especially in my area. That’s why I fork over –happily might I add– to AT&T

      2. lucky for me i live in NYC where T-mobile was just rated 2nd overall, inches behind Verizon in overall netowrk performance int he area.

        1. I was in the city this past Thursday, and I had full signal nearly everywhere I was, in lower Manhattan, Times Square, Central Park, Empire State Building, Bryant Park and so on. . .all full signal.

  5. 20 GB of turtle speeds data (actually turtle speeds are faster)
    I left sprint because of the speeds and saturated network.
    What’s the point of having unlimited when you can’t use it??
    at the end of the day you pay for nothing..

  6. I’d rather have Edge service and be with a carrier that cares about its customers. T-Mobile and Uncarrier deserve my money. Sprint has the RUDEST customer service in the business.

    1. Funny, I’ve dealt with all four carriers and they ALL have equally bad customer service. On top of that, some of the prepaid and regional carriers are the same, namely US Cellular and Straight Talk.

  7. thru 2015 highly worries me…..those with everything data plans, DONT FALL FOR IT.

  8. I have sprint and in my area I get 24mps sometimes a bit lower than that, this plan would work, im just worried about what in the world happens after 2015?

    1. If you have Sprint already, you don’t get the $100/mo. It’s $160.

    2. I’m guessing they may be using this as a way to test the waters and see how popular the plan really is. If it sticks, they may extend it further.

  9. The photo above shows that after 2015, the price will go up by $60 (there is a $15 per month access fee that is waived for the first 4 lines). Also, this pricing does not apply to current sprint customers. If you go to Sprint’s website, you will find out that current customers do not get the $15 per line discount, so it would be 160 per month plus you have to pay full price for upgrades. If you decide to get a discounted upgrade, then the surcharge is 40 per month per line (220 total). Sprint still has not convinced me to move from my current “Everything Data” plan. I am paying 210 a month for 4 lines, have unlimited data and am eligible for discounted upgrades.
    Sure if you pay full price for a phone you have “no contract” but if you chose to make payments on that phone then you still have to pay the remainder of the balance if you switch carriers (probably works out to be the same if not more than an etf). Also most sprint phones will not work on other carriers in the US.

    http://support.sprint.com/support/article/FAQs_about_Sprint_Family_Share_Pack/85ba5891-1b6a-4ebf-9f2c-e16eec3ce55f/?INTNAV=SU:SprintFamilySharePack:Wired:08182014:Learnmore

    1. Agreed. I did the math when my contract was up and staying on contract with the Everything Data plan was the best price. Partially, it’s because under Framily, my corporate discount only applies to the data, whereas currently, it applies to the first line, which is the bulk of the monthly fee.

  10. “We imagine both Sprint and T-Mobile’s prices will hike to the realm of the other two big carriers at that point.”

    T-Mobile has already disclosed what happens to theirs. It reverts back to the 1GB per line of the actual plan sans promo, so the price remains the same. You can then bump individual lines up to 3GB ($10), 5GB ($20) or unlimited ($30) based on your needs per line. To get back to roughly the same as what it is now, you’d select 3GB per line (as opposed to the current 2.5GB) which sets you up for $140/month. Of course, not everyone uses the same amount of data, so you may not need 3GB per line.

    1. Not sure it matters what happens in the end. That’s a long time from now. Packages in the market place will be different by then. The question is do you want to have a bunch of Sprint phones that you will sell for pennies on the dollar? And do you want to continue on with them after the price jump. With T-Mobile I can walk whenever and have to get rid of their phones at a higher price.

  11. This probably best explains what happens in 2016:

    I’m a current Sprint Customer. Can I get 20GB of high-speed data on up to 10 lines for $100/mo?
    Current customers can get 20GB of high-speed data for four lines for $160/mo, but the promotional price of $100/mo for up to 10 lines applies only to lines that are switched from another carrier to Sprint.

    I’m a current Sprint customer. Can I get the 2GB per device bonus data being offered?
    The 2GB per device bonus data is available only to existing Sprint customers eligible to migrate to thenew Sprint Family Share Pack who select the 20GB monthly data allowance.

    1. T-Mobiles current customers were given their new 2.5 GB /line deal. Plus we don’t pay for music streaming through certain sources. Lucky us we didn’t have to jump ship to get in on savings.

    2. Yes just read that, too. Lame. Seems like a great deal. I think I would like to jump on it.. bleh

  12. Sounds like a good deal. Too bad it’s Sprint.

  13. FYI, T-Mobile honors their existing customers so if you already have the T-Mobile Family plan, all you have to do is call them for the free upgrade to 2.5GB/line. But the upgrade offer expires on 9/30 so don’t wait too long.

  14. T-Mobile has a brand and business strategy that is unique. Sprint doesn’t. They just want to stay number 3. Cutting prices doesn’t really say your business model has changed or anything about your brand except it’s desperate.

    1. Except Sprint’s changing their business strategy compared to what Hesse had in place. The new CEO of Sprint said he’s changing from putting the most effort on upgrading the network (which is already upgraded substantially in most cities anyway) to concentrating on bringing customers to the network. Same thing T-Mobile is doing.

      The difference between Sprint & T-Mobile’s network upgrades is, T-Mobile had most everything they needed in place to upgrade to LTE while Sprint had to do a lot more work. Also, Sprint didn’t just install LTE at networks, they enhanced 3G data backhaul and completely overhauled their tower sites to make them cleaner appearing and less cluttered.

      1. The problem I think is for Sprint that the end result of what they are trying to accomplish with this huge network renovation will still perform worse than all their competition.

        1. No, actually, it won’t. I’ve used both Sprint & Verizon’s standard LTE networks on top of Verizon’s “XLTE” network. Sprint’s is on par with Verizon’s pre and now current XLTE network in terms of data speeds both upload and downloads everywhere I’ve been.

          In fact, I just utilized my T-Mobile hotspot for the first time in an LTE area at work, in the parking lot, and it was a little slower than both Sprint & Verizon’s LTE with all four of the big carriers’ towers being the same distance from my location. Only coverage I haven’t tested lately is AT&T.

        2. Does Sprint have LTE running on the old Nextel 800mhz yet? That might help, if they had it running on that frequency everywhere that is!

  15. Folks, chilled. We supported t-mobile because they came out with innovative lower priced, more affordable family plan for people in USA with severe economical downturn time to help out. If Sprint wants to raise the bar in favor of consumers than let’s support them. This keeps all other three in-line and possibly lower their price. If you live in Sprint good coverage network where your daily usage(job,home,kids school) is well covered than who cares who is better, Get on with sprint until 2015 and by that time there will be better plan offered. Bottom-line, Money saved is money earned.
    By the way, I love t-mobile and was customer until May 2014. My need changed, so moved to AT&T but my fellow Americans, save money today so you can use that next time you need.

    1. Sprint is doing this because they know their network sucks. Their new CEO even said the same thing. We can’t expect our customers to keep paying a premium when the network is not up to par. I left Sprint less than a year ago because my phones were unusable outside of WiFi and no LTE in my area and the 3g was worse than dial-up.

  16. If sprint was a shepherd they would provide their sheep with all the water they can drink. But the sheep would have to drink it out of a coffee stirrer.

  17. Lots of data but where is the network?

  18. This is just $10 more per month than my single user plan…

  19. No matter how you slice it T-mobile come out on top still.

    20Gig a “shared” data is nothing. Today I am on T-mobile 4 lines and 120 with 1Gig per line high speed, 2 are kids and even though they only have 1Gig of 4G speeds they still total 3-5gigs of data a month.

    If I took the four of use to sprint with the plan then I would be paying a TON of overages, if the network is up. Why, well they burn through the first gig of high speed on T-Mo in about 4 days or less. the remaining month they still eat up 3+ of reduced speed(nope no P2P going on just youtube and netflix and posting pics). That is would mean that 20Gig’s shared on top of the allotted 2G’s would leave me stranded with my 2Gigs on my line and an overage bill at the end of the month.

    Kids chew up the data and to date they have only complained once about the slowdown.

    1. That really depends on how you use your phone. For example, I have WiFi at work and at home, so the only time I’m using data from my plan is when I’m on the road. I currently have unlimited data with Sprint, and am not using much more than a few gigs a month. So for you, T-Mobile may well be a better deal. But I don’t have any children, and I don’t need data on the road as much as they clearly do, so Sprint is a more useful option, and this new framily plan might not be a bad idea.

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