Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

[clbowens]

For me it's appearing in the plan optimizer section since it's cheaper than my current plan.

 

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The plan optimizer hasn't worked for me for many months.  I just get this message:  

 

Plan Optimizer

Sorry we're unable to analyze your plan. However, we want to help you get the most out of it. Visit My Sprint and let's chat about it.

[payturr]

For me it's appearing in the plan optimizer section since it's cheaper than my current plan.

 

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It shows in plan optimizer for me too, even though it's $40 more than my current plan. 

[Paynefanbro]

That's pretty weird. I thought that new plans show up there only when the price is the same or less than your current plan.

 

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[Deval]

I've been following the whole new T-Mobile One and Sprint Unlimited Freedom news all morning, reading into both subreddits, so I can build a proper opinion. I think I have one.

 

T-Mobile better executed this plan than Sprint.

 

Reason why I say this, despite the fact everyone is more pissed at T-Mobile than Sprint, is because this is the most rock solid business strategy I've seen. All new consumers, whether they want 1GB of data or 100GB of data, that want to do business with T-Mobile, have to pay $70 at least for one line. Their average revenue per new subscriber is gonna go up up up. Taking away options from the people but making it sound great for a price that sounds reasonable is a practical business model that yields big profits. Like some have said, it's so un-carrier that it's carrier.

 

Sprint on the other hand has this new plan, as well as Better Choice, and the 100s of other legacy plans they still support as well as 50% off plans. It's a disorganized chaotic mess. Will Unlimited Freedom bring in new customers? Absolutely. But they're not gonna see increased revenues like T-Mobile because Sprint is still pro-consumer with choice.

 

Sprint is clearly the new un-carrier here for giving people the benefit of choice, but T-Mobile doesn't need that. They're corporations, and what matters at the end of the day is big piles of revenue to continue operating, appeasing stockholders, and increased capex to support growing networks. Sprint cares too much about trying to make new customers happy that its hurting the rest, while T-Mobile is just making bank. Nobody on Simple Choice is porting out because they get to keep Simple Choice, and new customers won't care about the caveats. It's a brilliant business plan, it just sucks for us.

 

I'm not sure the part of your post makes any sense, since the same applies to existing Sprint customers as it does for existing T-Mobile customers. 

 

No one is being forced off their plans, everyone stays happy, can switch if they feel the new ones offer more value.

 

It's a win-win.

[Deval]

I am keeping n mind how its expensive, but the thing is these individual line rates are increasing too much. Having such a high-rate and only offering unlimited, is going to alienate a lot of customers who don't need much data.

 

With Costco items, yes you pay more and get a lot more for it being in bulk, but unless things have changed since I last went to one of those stores, I think the price was the same for the second, third, and fourth unit purchase of the same item, or perhaps a small markdown may have been offered. However, the markdown on the added lines is pretty huge, especially in contrast to how these family plans use to be priced as. There use to be a reasonable rate for a certain amount of minutes/data, then adding a line was a flat $10 each. It worked for carriers before, so I'm not sure how it couldn't work for them again.

 

At least what could be done not to alienate individual lines with such a high starter cost, would be to say, charge $65, then move down more gradually, to $55, then to $45, and either stop there or at $35, depending on what the carrier wants. A $10 difference makes it more fair to the individual line who doesn't want to make up a bulk of the cost all these added family lines are getting discounted so heavily on.

 

Sprint is already charging $60 for the first line, $40 for the second, $30 for the rest up to 10. Enough with the significant complicated plans and pricing and usage.

 

Flat rate for unlimited is the way to go, it's the way of the future.

 

I've been in the industry since 1999, have seen all the changes and offerings from every carrier, even back when Verizon was still Bell Atlantic Mobile and only offered unlimited weekends and your day and night minutes came from the same bucket.

 

The industry shift needs to continue towards a single type of plan "Unlimited" with whatever traffic shaping and QoS the carriers need to do in order to keep their networks running.

 

It comes down to price.

[JimBob]

It comes down to price.

And simplicity.

[Paynefanbro]

Well, I just switched to this plan and am saving quite a bit in the process.

[Deval]

Still, there is no need for carriers to attempt making the profit off of the first line the way in which they are doing. Yes, they can make a profit from it, but they are not just doing that alone. They are reducing much profit made from additional lines and placing losses of that profit onto the individual line. Again, this isn't how the industry use to be. Profits were divided more evenly between lines.

 

Its akin to giving families tax breaks while sending their children to public school with monetary relief, then raising taxes on single people to make up for the cost difference. Even with some incentive to multi-line customers, It doesn't have to be this extreme. T-Mobile charging $70 for one line, then going down to $20 for the third line and beyond, is a huge monetary difference, $50 to be exact. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if this were some special rate plan as it has been for quite a while, but now its the standard plan and a huge rate hike for a single line from what has been offered by T-Mobile for several years.

 

T-Mobile could still make plenty of profit by charging say, $60 for the first line, $45 for the second, and $30 for the third line and beyond, not discounting all the way down to $20 for those extra lines.

 

Actually the industry was always making the most money on every line, regardless of single or family. It just took much longer due to subsidies.

 

Consider for a second that in 2003, Sprint's Fair and Flexible plan was $35 a month for 300 peak minutes and unlimited nights/weekends. That was prior to the data explosion so 2G/3G was irrelevant at that. In the last 10+ years we've seen networks explode in coverage and upgrades, and devices become much more than something you talk and text on. 

[Deval]

I see your point but disagree. These prices aren't forever. You want to attract customers. What about the people with 1 line? I bet they are more likely to try because it's "easier" I certainly wouldn't move 4+ lines without trying it out first.

 

Again, you want people to flock to sprint a $50ul plan sounds much more attractive than 60/40/30/30. It's confusing to some.

Sometimes you have to give to gain. It is expensive to run a network, and expand. Sprint should have left the 50/50 run it till Jan 5th or something.

 

Marcelo can still make this plan a big hit if he makes it $50 with an iPhone 7. Remember the crazy deal everyone got leasing last year? Those should be expiring soon sooooo a lot of people will upgrade their lease at the regular 24-30 price and they get $10 off the ul.

 

Btw, Costco and bjs are good for some things others they are the same price.... Sometimes more. thas prolly another thread through.

 

How is it confusing? $60 a month for a single line, unlimited, no access fees or anything. If someone wants < $60, go prepaid.

 

Doesn't take a genius...the whole notion of expiring promos and limited time offers makes it complicated for the long run.

 

Much easier to give a flat rate deal and call it a day. 

[Deval]

And simplicity.

 

That's what drives subscriber growth.

 

Give them a simple plan choice that a 3 year old can do, and you'll be in good shape.

 

60+40+30x8

[payturr]

I'm not sure the part of your post makes any sense, since the same applies to existing Sprint customers as it does for existing T-Mobile customers. 

 

No one is being forced off their plans, everyone stays happy, can switch if they feel the new ones offer more value.

 

It's a win-win.

It's not about existing customers, it's about new customers. That's where T-Mobile made the right call with this plan. If you're referring to the last part, I say T-Mobile is in better shape because all that profit goes back into capex, something Sprint hasn't been able to do due to large amounts of debt and the losses they keep posting. That's where Sprint's existing customers are hurting.

[Deval]

It's not about existing customers, it's about new customers. That's where T-Mobile made the right call with this plan.

 

Yeah and Sprint made the same right call. The price is right for many existing customers as well. 

[payturr]

Yeah and Sprint made the same right call. The price is right for many existing customers as well. 

Updated my previous post just as you posted

[Paynefanbro]

The new plans don't throttle as heavily as anticipated. My phone is streaming YouTube at 720p60fps without any issue. Is there an app i can use to see the speed of the data being uploaded and downloaded while using my phone?

 

Maybe the prioritization simply isn't in effect yet.

[Terrell352]

The new plans don't throttle as heavily as anticipated. My phone is streaming YouTube at 720p60fps without any issue. Is there an app i can use to see the speed of the data being uploaded and downloaded while using my phone?

 

Maybe the prioritization simply isn't in effect yet.

Fast.com netflix tells if your being throttled

 

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[payturr]

The new plans don't throttle as heavily as anticipated. My phone is streaming YouTube at 720p60fps without any issue. Is there an app i can use to see the speed of the data being uploaded and downloaded while using my phone?

 

Maybe the prioritization simply isn't in effect yet.

Maybe they haven't updated the system yet to list you under Unlimited Freedom. Or maybe you're still on your old plan technically until the billing cycle ends?

[Rawvega]

The new plans don't throttle as heavily as anticipated. My phone is streaming YouTube at 720p60fps without any issue. Is there an app i can use to see the speed of the data being uploaded and downloaded while using my phone?

 

Maybe the prioritization simply isn't in effect yet.

 

https://support.sprint.com/support/article/Sprint-Launches-Unlimited-Freedom/0db2c4e7-3a6a-4d46-9dff-84cd6c402527

 

How is premium resolution content streaming different than mobile-optimized streaming?

Mobile-optimized streaming is great for mobile phone screens with video streams at up to 480p+ resolution and music streams at extreme quality at up to 500 kbps. Gaming is limited to 2 mbps. Premium resolution provides streaming video at up to 1080p+ quality with music streaming at up to 1.5 mbps and gaming at up to 8 mbps.

 

 

Are there any special offers available with the Unlimited Freedom plan?

Yes. Sign up for the Unlimited Freedom plan now, and you’ll enjoy premium resolution streaming video, gaming and music for FREE as a special benefit through 10/31/16. Afterwards, you can choose to keep premium resolution streaming for an additional monthly charge or receive mobile-optimized streaming services.

[Paynefanbro]

https://support.sprint.com/support/article/Sprint-Launches-Unlimited-Freedom/0db2c4e7-3a6a-4d46-9dff-84cd6c402527

Thanks so much! So my suspicion was right that it simply hasn't been implemented yet.

 

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[Terrell352]

Thanks so much! So my suspicion was right that it simply hasn't been implemented yet.

 

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Looks like every carrier including Sprint just took a dump on net neutrality. [emoji45]

 

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[Deval]

Looks like every carrier including Sprint just took a dump on net neutrality. [emoji45]

 

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It's a grey area, all Sprint has to do is not offer premium upgrades and it becomes the norm that you'll get network side compression unless you're on WIFI.

 

That's the only way to stop the network from being crippled by people who refuse to pay for home internet or spend their entire work day watching Netflix instead of working.

[Fraydog]

I don't think we can say that either Sprint or T-Mobile killed Network Neutrality when Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T have fought it tooth and nail since academics came up with the idea of Network Neutrality. Let's use Occam's Razor. Sprint and T-Mobile are both also rans at attacking Net Neutrality. Verizon wins that battle with AT&T and Comcast right in their wake.

 

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[Rocket87]

So I went on the Sprint site to see what's up with advertising Unlimited Freedom since it's out today. No mention on the homepage, okay. Lets check plans. On the little carousel of plans I expected it to be there where Unlimited for $75 was, but nope. Missing from there, just the Better Choice capped data plans. I scroll up and down just to realize it's in small text toward the top of the page. I imagine that although Sprint is posting about it on social media and what not, they don't really want people jumping onto it. Just something they offer in the case someone does want it.

I feel like this was rushed due to tmobile and it will take a few days to get stuff updated. Its also not an after thought to the data tier plans because we have been repeatedly instructed to lead with the freedom plans in retail even over leading with 50% plans.

 

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[nexgencpu]

I feel like this was rushed due to tmobile and it will take a few days to get stuff updated.

 

Actually, as Marcelo stated, this was planned about a week ago, and I think T mobile wanted to rush there plan out before Sprint's (Hence, Sprint's is ready today, T mobile's next month)

[WiWavelength]

Actually, as Marcelo stated, this was planned about a week ago, and I think T mobile wanted to rush there plan out before Sprint's (Hence, Sprint's is ready today, T mobile's next month)

 

We need to get Arysyn in on those planning discussions.  He is the hypothetical rate plan guy and would be like a kid in a candy store.

 

AJ

[mnjeepmale]

Actually, as Marcelo stated, this was planned about a week ago, and I think T mobile wanted to rush there plan out before Sprint's (Hence, Sprint's is ready today, T mobile's next month)

I believe what Marcelo was saying. They have been working on this for a few weeks. And to surprise Legere wanted to announce something big on Thursday. Usually they give a few days in advance.