Sprint’s New $15 Monthly Unlimited Plan Details: Pros And Cons

Telecommunications services provider Sprint announced Thursday a new $15 monthly unlimited plan that will launch Friday. The company calls it the “Unlimited Kickstart” plan and it seems designed to attract both first-time users, as well as to convert existing customers of other providers.

To sign up for this plan, interested customers can bring their own existing mobile devices or purchase a new one from Sprint. But they can’t be existing Sprint customers who just want to switch from the plan they are currently on. You either buy a new connection with the provider, or bring your existing number from another carrier. There is also no annual contract, so you aren’t locked in for any longer than a month at a time.

The plan gives users unlimited data, talk and text for $15, but there are some limitations. The payment must be made through AutoPay, the company’s payment system it has been trying to push using other promotions as well (like offering rebate on some plans if payments are made using AutoPay). There are also caps on streaming data speeds and video streaming quality — music streaming is limited to 500 Kbps and game streams to 2 Mbps, while videos can be watched at a maximum of 480p resolution.

Applicable taxes and surcharges would be on top of the $15, as would any roaming charges. And like with all other Sprint plans since 2015, the data policy will deprioritize speed for users who cross 23 GB of usage in one billing cycle.

While the offer starts Friday, it is not known how long it would last. But given the company’s announcement, it won’t be long. On its website, senior vice president for acquisition marketing, Allan Samson, said: “Hurry, though; just like summer, this promotion won’t last long.”

All in all, the deal is one that is better than any currently offered by other wireless carriers, so long as you live in an area where the Sprint coverage is decent. After all, it wouldn’t make sense to take this offer, only to find out that the Sprint signal reception near you is too weak for you to make the most of it.

The news has some potential users excited, along with some former customers too.

At the same time, some existing Sprint customers felt shortchanged by the company not offering them the same sort of deal.

Sprint added in its announcement it was preparing “to launch the first mobile 5G network in the U.S. in the first half of 2019.”

Shares of Sprint were down 0.29 percent during Thursday trade on the New York Stock Exchange, underperforming most of the telecom sector.