Thank you for posting this article, it pretty much aligns with what my
experiences are and people I know. T-Mobile and Verizon are the top players in
the US now and AT&T and Sprint are far behind.
Sprint is a sad story. They were at one point the best data provider.
They had a 3G product that was rock solid, faster than Verizon, and all kinds
of cool form factors. AT&T was getting crushed by the exclusivity of the
iPhone at that time so Sprint was the place to be for data. Then Sprint
decides to be the first 4G player and makes this really bad move in to WIMAX
which was a technology operating up in the 3.5 GHZ band that gave you maybe 6
megabits possibly as much as 10 down and 1 up. The thing was it wasn’t very
stable, you’d always get disconnected and it had 0 building penetration. Your
signal strength was so low while on WIMAX the way you knew which network you
were connected to was if you read below 40% you were on WIMAX and 80 or higher
you were on 3G.
Sprint spent huge money on this project while everyone else
standardized around LTE and took their time bringing in a lot of talent from
over seas especially from Korea where they do wireless like no other.:). One of
my very good friends from verizon located here from Korea because he could do
so well working for carriers and helping update the networks.
AT&T languishes after building out a very good first generation LTE
network do to bad management and T-Mobile gets a crazy CEO who takes on the
industry. T-Mobile is run very differently from the other carriers. They do
not take excessive time to enable new features, they push the envelope and as a
result have the absolutely fastest network in the US when you have good
coverage. Verizon decided to step up their game and I knew about the unlimited
plans you’re starting to see now as far back as 2009. Since Verizon and
T-Mobile have built their networks correctly they have a massive amount of
capacity that they can afford to sell at a more competitive rate. It’s only
going to get better.
Over the next few years some say by 2018 on the T-Mobile network and
somewhere between 2019 and 2021 on Verizon you’re going to see 5G. This will
solve the last mile problem to the home permanently, this is why verizon froze
a lot of their FIOS build out. They will be able to beam to your home over a
gigabit of internet connectivity and you’ll get your television and all your
content over the same port. No more pulling a wire to your house or fiber out
to every building and apartment.
> On Feb 20, 2017, at 3:09 PM, M. Taylor <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Hello Everyone,
>
> Here is an interesting article that I hope you will find useful.
>
> The original article, complete with live links to the various carriers is
> located at:
> https://9to5mac.com/2017/02/19/the-new-wave-of-unlimited-data-plans-how-veri
> zon-sprint-t-mobile-and-att-compare/
>
> Also, AT&T Wireless is offering 4-lines, unlimited talk, data, and text for
> $180 per month or 1 line for $100 per months. As of today, they are not yet
> including tethering in their offer; however, I hope this will change soon.
>
> See the text of the article, below.
>
> Mark
>
> The New Wave of "Unlimited" Data Plans: How Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and
> AT&T Compare
>
> Over the last week, all four of the major United States carriers either
> announced new unlimited data plans or made changes to existing plans in an
> effort to better compete. With all four carriers offering some form of
> unlimited data, now may be as good of a time as ever to analyze your current
> plan and think about switching.
>
> Read on for a breakdown of what each plan has to offer.
>
> The push towards unlimited data was really kickstarted last week when
> Verizon announced it's all-new unlimited plan. Shortly thereafter, T-Mobile
> in typical fashion announced that it was dropping two of the restrictions on
> its unlimited plan: HD streaming and tethering.
>
> From there, Sprint announced changes to its unlimited plan, as well. The
> carrier, like T-Mobile, announced support for HD video and mobile tethering.
> Those changes came less than a week after Sprint announced a new plan with
> promo pricing. Then, AT&T announced that it was expanding its unlimited
> plan, which had previously been available only to U-Verse and DirecTV
> subscribers.
>
> All of these changes can be a bit overwhelming, so we decided to put it all
> together into a nice, quick chart. For your viewing pleasure:
>
> unlimited-data-plans-compared
>
> There are a few things to note about the chart, though. For one, the
> pricing. T-Mobile's pricing is as you see it. The carrier, as part of its
> Uncarrier efforts, includes all taxes and fees in its advertised pricing.
> The same can't be said for the other carriers, though, who tack on taxes and
> fees after the fact, thus increasing the price. The price increase really
> depends on your location and it can be a pretty big chunk of change in some
> areas. There's also activation fees to consider:
> .Sprint: $25
> .Verizon: $30
> .AT&T: $25
> .T-Mobile: $0
>
> Furthermore, Sprint's pricing deserves an asterisk because of its
> promotional nature. The carrier says that come March 31st, 2018, its prices
> will rise to be more inline with what other carriers are charging. The first
> line will run $60, the second line $40, and the third, fourth, and fifth
> $30.
> .1st line: $60
> .2nd line: $40
> .3rd line: $30
> .4th line: $30
> .5th line: $30
>
> In terms of pricing, T-Mobile has the clear advantage if you ignore the
> promotional pricing from Sprint. Though, if you need five lines, Sprint is
> the best option. As for data, you get the most bang for your buck from
> T-Mobile at 28GB per line before throttling kicks in. From there, Sprint is
> slightly ahead of AT&T and Verizon.
>
> One of the most notable differences is with hotspot support. While Verizon,
> T-Mobile, and Sprint all offer hotspot support, AT&T does not. This really
> sets AT&T's apart of the competition and you have to wonder if the carrier
> will budge on this issue after backlash, but we'll have to wait and see.
>
> So what unlimited data plan is the best?
>
> T-Mobile-One
>
> It's hard to say because there are several factors to consider. For one,
> what carrier offers the best service in your location? If a carrier has a
> slightly cheaper price but spotty service, you won't really be getting your
> money's worth. You all also have to consider how many lines you'll need and
> if you need hotspot support. For many, having a hotspot isn't necessary, so
> it really just depends on your needs and wants.
>
> If we had to pick, T-Mobile's ONE unlimited plan is the most well-rounded
> and affordable option available right now. You get pretty much the same
> thing as you get from other carriers for a solid price
>
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