Ting confirms 1 year+ delay for Sprint devices to be allowed on MVNOs

[cletus]

From: https://help.ting.com/entries/22567167-BYOD-Whitelist-?page=5 So anyone like myself hoping for a Nexus 5 or LG G2 might as well settle in for the long haul. Important to note that these MVNOs CAN sell the devices at unsubsidized prices but terrible for anyone hoping to score a cheap HTC One/S4/LGG2 in the near future. Pretty disappointing overall.

 

"Hey Joseph,

We have been advised that it would be around 1 year since the launch of a newer LTE devices to be granted access to our BYOD program. 

I assure you we are bringing this up regularly and are always pushing for updates. They are well informed of our demand and I am hopeful that BYODs will be available upon release in the future. However, as of today this is what has been communicated to us. 

I know this isn't ideal. We are pricing our devices as low as we can to compensate for this. Our marketing team is very active and are always offering options for Ting customers to see additional savings such as our refer a friend program. I hope these savings can suffice the fact that we currently cannot BYOD these newer LTE devices. We are persistent for our customers and I assure you we will not stop pushing for this capability. "

 

 

[gameaddict8]

So 6 months until they can get the ONE.

[WiWavelength]

So 6 months until they can get the ONE.

 

Nah, that movie was released over a decade ago.

 

 

AJ

[CrossedSignals]

I read the quoted reply a couple of times trying to figure out why they would put a timer on BYOD activations.  I can only guess that they (Sprint) want to prevent someone from signing up for the latest and greatest phone, cancelling service, paying the ETF and then immediately taking it to Ting.  Given the potential cost savings, the break-even point for some (low data use) customers moving to Ting is quick.

 

It will be interesting to see if they do indeed do the same with the Nexus 5, especially if the phone is not offered directly for sale by Sprint.  Given that the Nexus 4 purchased from T-Mobile was in no way a deal vs. purchasing direct from Google, I speculate that the N5 may only be offered for sale by Google and therefore the beginning of a real effort to drive BYOD handset sales.  Also, if the rumors are to be believed, the N5 may be the first handset to cover all of the LTE bands utilized by T-Mo, Sprint, & AT&T.  A 'network agnostic' device would be ideal for a BYOD centric model.

[cletus]

I am very interested in how the Nexus 5 will be purchasable. I REALLY want a new phone as my evo3d, while faithful, is looking pretty beat up. I'd seriously jump at the chance to purchase the phone through Google if I could use it on Ting immediately. Waiting a year for phones OR paying unsub pricing really sucks but I can understand why Sprint doesn't want people just constantly jumping ship.

[Fubie]

I just switched my two lines with EVO 4G LTE and I gladly took the ETF hit.  My bill is going from $155/mo to approximately $80.  With what I'm saving a month I will (again) gladly pay full price for a new phone on the next line or lines I bring over.

[cletus]

I just switched my two lines with EVO 4G LTE and I gladly took the ETF hit.  My bill is going from $155/mo to approximately $80.  With what I'm saving a month I will (again) gladly pay full price for a new phone on the next line or lines I bring over.

I've been at Ting for about 5 months now at an average cost of $44 after taxes. Actually, after referrals I have gotten, I have had free cellphone service the last 3 months. I'd love to just buy a used Sprint smartphone as there are tons of used HTC Ones for relatively cheap on eBay. If the Nexus 5 isn't offered direct to MVNOs I may just spend the rest of my credit at Ting on the next 2 months of service and then port out to a different carrier MVNO. Really, I just only buy used phones and don't pay more than $350 max for them because that seems to be what the market says that 6 month old smartphones are worth.

[ryry4ya]

Sounds like" nothing but a ting thing baby"..lol. sorry I couldn't resist since non "ting" wrong ...ha

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[dedub]

https://ting.com/devices/buy/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-III-White

[gnoj]

https://ting.com/devices/buy/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-III-White

 

The delay concerns BYOD. No one doubted that they could sell future LTE devices directly since they continue to sell the Moto X, One, S4, etc on their website.

[dedub]

yeah, I suppose I should have clarified or posted it on the note3 thread instead

[justen]

The Nexus 5 is a bit of a different animal.  Folks are able to bring Nexus 5 devices that they purchase from Google Play over to Ting.  We're still working on getting data and MMS flawlessly working, but so far it's looking good...

 

https://help.ting.com/entries/28441553

[gnoj]

The Nexus 5 is a bit of a different animal.  Folks are able to bring Nexus 5 devices that they purchase from Google Play over to Ting.  We're still working on getting data and MMS flawlessly working, but so far it's looking good...

 

https://help.ting.com/entries/28441553

 

Interesting! I guess you guys managed to convince Sprint to load all the Play Store Nexus 5's into the MEID whitelist you have to use. This sort of supports CrossedSignal's theory that the 1-yr delay is to prevent people from taking advantage of Sprint's $100 port-in device credit and then paying the ETF and moving to Ting, since Sprint doesn't subsidize the devices sold by Google. I would suspect then that the 16GB Nexus 5's sold at Sprint stores will remain off your activation whitelist for the next year? If that turns out to be the case I imagine that will make a few customers very confused why some BYOD N5's can be activated and others can't.

 

I am also curious if Ting has the capability yet to "delink" the UICC from the GS4 or HTC One (SIMGLW206R) and re-attach it to another device, or if a new SIM must be ordered. Of course, it would be nice if CSIM was employed, rendering such a step unnecessary.

 

FWIW, I support the idea of just linking to the Play Store from your website, rather than selling the marked-up (and potentially GSM-locked) Sprint version. If this device had a removable battery, microSD, and SVLTE, it would be perfect!

[justen]

Only Nexus 5 devices that are purchased from the Google Play store will be able to be brought over to Ting for the foreseeable future.  For the original owner of a device, I don't think that's too terribly confusing.  I can understand there might be some confusion for folks that buy used devices, but I would imagine that would be a relatively small number of devices during the first year.

 

Inactive, compatible SIM cards can be unlinked and should be able to be reused, but you're sort of passing the "SIM buck" to the next person with that will be using that device, so to speak — since they'd then have to get a SIM card to be able to activate and use LTE.  

 

I would suspect then that the 16GB Nexus 5's sold at Sprint stores will remain off your activation whitelist for the next year? If that turns out to be the case I imagine that will make a few customers very confused why some BYOD N5's can be activated and others can't.

 

I am also curious if Ting has the capability yet to "delink" the UICC from the GS4 or HTC One (SIMGLW206R) and re-attach it to another device, or if a new SIM must be ordered. Of course, it would be nice if CSIM was employed, rendering such a step unnecessary.