Sprint on Wednesday unveiled a new offer to cut the rates that customers are paying for their wireless services in half if they switch from Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile. We already pointed out some potential shortcomings with Sprint’s offer and we’re not at all surprised to see that T-Mobile CEO John Legere has taken to Twitter to rip the new Sprint offer apart.
RELATED: T-Mobile implements a sneaky price increase for its unlimited data plans
Here’s basically what Sprint is offering: If you switch over from one of the other three major wireless carriers, Sprint will make you pay just 50% what you were paying for comparable data plans on your old service. So for example, if you’re paying $80 per month for a plan with unlimited talk and text and 12GB of data on Verizon, you’ll pay $40 per month for that same plan on Sprint. Sprint will also pay up to $650 in early termination fees if you switch while still under contract with another carrier.
This is a good deal overall for a lot of customers but it definitely has its downsides. For example, T-Mobile customers won’t enjoy the same unlimited data for music streaming and video streaming that they get right now on Sprint. Similarly, Sprint won’t offer a rollover data option on its plans like the ones that T-Mobile customers enjoy right now with Data Stash.
Legere was quick to point out all these caveats in an epic tirade against Sprint’s new offer on Twitter. Here it is in its entirety:
Let's do our own #SprintCountdown! Here are a few things that that Marcelo forgot to mention on his call today…
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) November 18, 2015
9. @TMobile customers get Unlimited music streaming w/ their plans. Not on @Sprint. #SprintCountdown #halfoffthetruth
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) November 18, 2015
7. @TMobile customers get tethering included in their plans. Not on @Sprint's new 50% off offer. #SprintCountdown #halfoffthetruth
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) November 18, 2015
5. @TMobile customers get unlimited data and text in 140 countries. Not on @Sprint. #SprintCountdown #halfoffthetruth
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) November 18, 2015
3. @TMobile customers get America's Fastest 4G LTE network. @Sprint's get America's slowest (@Ookla). #SprintCountdown #halfoffthetruth
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) November 18, 2015
1. @TMobile customers get access to whatever plan they want. On @sprint, you have to leave and come back take advantage! #SprintCountdown
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) November 18, 2015
Now, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure fired back with some salvos of his own. He slammed the fact that T-Mobile’s Binge On limits customer video streams to resolutions of 480p, although this really isn’t much of a gotcha since you’re only limited to 480p on videos that don’t count against your monthly data usage cap. If you want to want to watch videos on T-Mobile in 1080p or higher, you can do so — it’ll just count against your cap, just like it does on Sprint’s own capped plans.
This, however, seems to be his most compelling argument:
@JohnLegere the only print that matters is the BIG print. @TMobile customers can come and save 50 % of your current rates!! It's that simple
— Marcelo Claure (@marceloclaure) November 18, 2015
If you’re the sort of person who just wants to save money on your wireless bill and you don’t care about things like rollover data or unlimited music and video streaming, then Sprint’s offer is terrific. But you shouldn’t switch to Sprint and expect to get everything you’re getting on T-Mobile right now for half the price.
