Sep. 23, 2011 at 11:38 AM ET
Come Oct. 2, people who use Sprint 3G or 4G smartphones as Wi-Fi hotspots for their computers will hit a monthly limit of 5 gigabytes. Even customers who currently have unlimited Mobile Hotspot plans will be migrated over, following a notice in their bill notice or a separately mailed postcard.
To be clear, this change doesn't affect the unlimited data used on the phone — it only affects people who use their phone to provide Internet access to other devices, like laptops and tablets. Still, Sprint has made a name for itself by having unlimited data plans — and for slamming competitors who did.
The $30-per-month plan is still competitive. AT&T has a $20 add-on that tops users off at a total of 4GB of data. (You still have to have a $25 2GB data plan to start with.) However, when you use up your 4GB on AT&T, you have to pay overage charges on your phone too. Verizon Wireless has a similar plan, totaling 4GB, for $50 per month. Meanwhile, T-Mobile charges $14.99 per month to turn your phone into a modem, and doesn't charge overage fees if you exceed your plans limit. The speed just drops once you've used up your gigabytes.
Sprint confirmed the plan change news following a leaked memo that appeared on the SprintFeed blog. Here's Sprint's own statement, which we received from the company via email:
Sprint continues to offer unlimited data for phones in its Everything Data and Simply Everything plans. Mobile Hotspot data usage is calculated independent of a customer's phone data usage. The mobile hotspot functionality on a phone enables other Wi-Fi enabled devices to connect to the Sprint network. Effective Oct. 2, Sprint is changing the optional $29.99 Mobile Hotspot add-on for phones. The new add-on has a monthly 5GB on-network data allowance for 3G or combined 3G/4G usage.
What's the takeaway? Unlimited data is a pipe dream, a concept that can't possibly sustain as America's hunger for cellular data exponentially grows. Even the carrier that preaches the gospel of unlimited can't keep this up for much longer.
More on Sprint and smartphones from msnbc.com:
- Samsung Galaxy S II comes to US, Sprint first
- Sprint to start selling iPhone 5 mid-October: report
- Sprint's $10 smart phone fee: How it affects you
- Nielsen: Majority of US cellphone purchases are smartphones
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