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Sprint MVNO Ting to Let Users Bring Old Sprint Phones


marioc21

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This is an interesting development. Ting will start letting customers bring their old Sprint phones with them to the MVNO's service. The plan rates are exactly the same whether you use your own phone or buy a new one from them. The new feature will go live sometime in the 4th quarter.

 

One interesting note at the end of the article, the CEO says that he expects Sprint to eventually let you bring verizon phones. I don't know if this means he's aware of something or if he's just speculating on future possibilities. That would be a very interesting move for Sprint if it started letting customers bring their Verizon phones with them. I assume it would be 3g only devices since they use incompatible LTE frequencies. Would existing verizon customers flock to Sprint if they could keep their current verizon phones?

 

http://allthingsd.com/20120823/carrier-start-up-ting-will-soon-let-you-use-your-old-sprint-phone/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker

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Eventually Verizon will have PCS LTE, but that won't be for another two or three years. So yeah, Verizon-to-Sprint phones would end up being 3G-only, and wouldn't have CDMA 800 built in.

 

But hey, if that gets folks with $200 (on contract) smartphones moving over to Sprint, Network Vision should be able to support them (though getting more 3G phones on Sprint's network isn't quite what we need at this point).

 

One phone that would be awesome as a VZW-to-Sprint port would be the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx. Best battery life of any LTE phone out right now, thanks to its monstrous (3700 mAh) built-in battery. I'm not particularly in the market for such a thing, since I now have 4200 or so mAh of capacity spread between two batteries for my GSIII, but folks who don't want to carry around an extra battery and still want to beat their phones to a pulp and still have battery at the end of the day...well, the Razr Maxx allows that.

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Newer chipset phones should be able to come close to the Razr Maxx. I usually carry an external battery for all my devices. You know, just in case :) .

 

This may be a little off topic.... but, I think that all phones need to take the Motorola Razr Maxx approach. So much more functionality with being able to use your phone how you want without fear of it dying, at the cost of a few millimeters

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Just to clarify and avoid confusion, the CEO of Ting was saying that Sprint might allow Ting to use Verizon Phones on their MVNO, not that Sprint would allow Verizon phones on the Sprint network.

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Now is it talking about allowing it on Sprint or allowing it just on the MVNO's? I don't forsee Sprint allowing it onto the Postpaid side of things due to the headache of getting ESN's/MEID's into the database without alot of fraudulent potential. I would even go so far as to say the same thing with Virgin and Boost. Also I'm sure Ting will not be able to activate a phone if it's a bad ESN which would eliminate alot of the phone people would be trying to activate.

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Now is it talking about allowing it on Sprint or allowing it just on the MVNO's? I don't forsee Sprint allowing it onto the Postpaid side of things due to the headache of getting ESN's/MEID's into the database without alot of fraudulent potential. I would even go so far as to say the same thing with Virgin and Boost. Also I'm sure Ting will not be able to activate a phone if it's a bad ESN which would eliminate alot of the phone people would be trying to activate.

 

Why would it eliminate a lot of phones? There are plenty of people using non-stolen phones out there :P

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Why would it eliminate a lot of phones? There are plenty of people using non-stolen phones out there :P

 

I just see people buying Sprint phones off of Craigslist or Ebay with bad ESN's thinking they can just get them activated on Ting and then finding out the hard way they can't. Working in the retail environment that I do I already see it quite a bit ie: Stolen or from an account that's been cancelled and left with an outstanding bill.

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I just see people buying Sprint phones off of Craigslist or Ebay with bad ESN's thinking they can just get them activated on Ting and then finding out the hard way they can't. Working in the retail environment that I do I already see it quite a bit ie: Stolen or from an account that's been cancelled and left with an outstanding bill.

 

Ting would be burning bridges if they allowed potential customers to flash over phones with bad ESNs. That kind of stunt would net them some customers right away, but Ting's days would be numbered after that.

 

Now is it talking about allowing it on Sprint or allowing it just on the MVNO's? I don't forsee Sprint allowing it onto the Postpaid side of things due to the headache of getting ESN's/MEID's into the database without alot of fraudulent potential. I would even go so far as to say the same thing with Virgin and Boost. Also I'm sure Ting will not be able to activate a phone if it's a bad ESN which would eliminate alot of the phone people would be trying to activate.

 

Strictly on Ting. I really can't see Sprint postpaid, Boost or Virgin allowing Verizon phones to be activated for at least 5 years when VoLTE starts getting big and they have no choice (SIM swaps).

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