A report this week put Sprint’s network firmly in last place among national carriers. Coverage and speed — the only two things that really matter for a network’s performance — are awful compared to T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T.
So to make up for the lack of network performance, Sprint is taking a page out of T-Mobile’s old playbook, and slashing prices with a ridiculously good deal.
Starting today and lasting for the next year, Sprint will offer five lines of “unlimited” data for $90, total. Those of you keeping score at home will notice that’s $18 per line, which is a little bit crazy.
Now, there are caveats. The deal will only last for a year, and you have to buy five lines in order for the per-line pricing to get that low. (If you just want one line, that’ll cost you $50 on sale.)
Sprint’s “unlimited” plan gets the scare-quotes because, just like T-Mobile’s plan, it isn’t really unlimited. Your mobile video streams are limited to standard definition, there’s a cap on mobile hotspot use, and heavy users will be throttled during peak times.
But still, even with all the restrictions on data and including the additional fees that I’m sure will be tacked on, this deal represents awesome value for a medium-usage family that wants to save on its phone bill. You’ll just want to check first that your usual areas are covered by Sprint’s network, which is easily done using Sprint’s coverage checker, and OpenSignal’s crazy-accurate local coverage map.
