With competition getting even tougher in the wireless market, Sprint on Thursday reduced the long-term price of its unlimited data plan and eliminated all its offerings with data allowances.
The announcement came just minutes before cable giant Comcast was to unveil its new wireless service and after months of price chopping and advertising battles over unlimited plans from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
Sprint said that starting on April 7, it would only offer its unlimited data plan that also includes unlimited talk and texting. Download rates can be slowed if a customer uses more than 23 GB on one line in a month. The plan will start at $50 for one line, $80 for two lines, $90 for three lines and $120 for four lines. That’s cheaper than any of Sprint’s competitors, though the carrier did end its promotion of $90 for up to five lines for one year.
Sprint said it eliminated its remaining plans with a data allowances because more than 90% of customers were opting for the unlimited plan.
Unlimited data plans have appealed to wireless customers sick of worrying about whether they had enough data remaining and wary of overage charges that accrued when they exceeded their allowances. Sprint and T-Mobile (TMUS) kicked off the industry’s shift to cheaper unlimited plans last summer and AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) have sought to catch up with new plans this year.
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The deals for customers may not be so great for investors in the stock of Sprint (S) and its competitors. All of the price cutting will cut into profits of the four major carriers, Jefferies analyst Mike McCormack noted this week, as he cut his earnings estimates.
Comcast (CMCSA)is expected to offer both limited and unlimited plans for its wireless service. The cable giant is leasing airwaves from Verizon to carry its customers’ wireless traffic.