The all-you-can eat data buffet will soon become one of those stories you tell your kids about the good old days. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said recently that the company would soon do away with unlimited data plans, opting instead for tiered pricing. This follows the same move by AT&T earlier this year and a recent admission from Sprint CEO Dan Hesse that his company may need to make the same change. Seidenberg said Verizon’s data plans would differ from the way AT&T has structured their plans, but did not elaborate on how.

"We’re not sure we agree yet with how they valued the data," he said at a recent investor conference. The new plans are expected to roll out in the next four to six months. The company would not comment on what the pricing would be for the new plans.

The new era of high-speed data and mobile devices that more resemble computers than phones have pushed the wireless providers’ networks to the limits of their capacity. The telecom giants have had to spend billions of dollars on their networks to cope with demand, which is Verizon claims to be growing faster than the network capacity can be expanded (demand has yet to outstrip capacity, it’s just catching up quickly). Executives in those companies have been forecasting the end of unlimited data for quite some time now.

Seidenberg also took the time to call on device manufacturers to start producing LTE hardware. "At some point, [they] will get with the program," he said, addressing the growing popularity of LTE among cellular network operators. Of course, with no large-scale LTE deployments on which to sell said phones, manufacturers are going to continue to be reluctant about producing compatible hardware. Chicken and the egg, as they say.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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Sprint has been the bastion of unlimited data in a land where the giants of AT&T and Verizon have either switched to the metered side, or have indicated it’s going to happen. But Sprint CEO Dan Hesse noted at the EmTech@MIT conference that if data usage gets out of hand, then Sprint’s unlimited data plans might got the way of the dodo, the dinosaur, and Lindsay Lohan’s film career. Says Hesse:

“We can offer unlimited as long as the usage is reasonable. If you run an all-you-can-eat buffet, but you have the New England Patriots come in and the whole team spends a whole day there, I can’t afford to do that anymore.”

True words, Mr. Hesse. The Sprint chief was sure to note that their 4G WiMax devices do command a $10-a-month higher charge than 3G-enabled devices, obviously because it’s easier to pull down more data over a faster 4G connection. For what it’s worth, the same thing happened when moving from $10-a-month 2G 1xRTT “Vision” service to $15-a-month 3G EVDO “Power Vision” service.

Hesse knows that Sprint users are fans of their unlimited service, and will be watching (and hoping) to see if they experience an influx of customers from AT&T and Verizon seeking to leave behind the metered data plans. Hesse himself is a fan of the unlimited concept: he is the owner of an unlimited car washes pass good for an entire year. “I spend more probably than I would without it, but I enjoy not having to pay to wash my car each time.”

Source: ComputerWorld; Via: Engadget

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It’s been no secret that Sprint has a customer service problem, or is at least broadly perceived to have a customer service problem. Understandably, CEO Dan Hesse and everybody below him in Overland Park, Kansas, have been working hard to get that perception turned around, and it looks like they’re starting to get results. The recently released 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index rates Sprint as the most improved company, not just among telecom giants, but all US firms across all industries over the past two years.

Considering the improvements that many companies have made as far as quality and customer satisfaction are concerned (see: GM and Ford), it’s quite the testament to Sprint’s efforts that their numbers have risen dramatically in comparison to most other companies. Programs like Ready Now and plans like Any Mobile, Anytime certainly don’t hurt. It’s also a testament to how far Sprint had to improve that they could log a 14-point improvement in two years time and still have a massive public perception problem.

We know that a good chunk of you (the faithful readership) are Sprint users – let’s hear it: how satisfied are you with Sprint?

How’s your Sprint customer service experience been?online survey

Via: TreoCentral, Source: Sprint

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You’ve got to feel a bit of pity for Sprint. They’ve improved their network, coverage, stores, plans, phones, and customer service only to keep losing customers and money every quarter. As noted at eWeek, at least the losses are getting to the less painful stage: Sprint’s post-paid (traditional contract) subscriber count dropped by 148,000 in last quarter of 2009, though that’s nowhere near as bad as the 545,000 subscriber loss posted the previous quarter. Sprint’s also losing less money, with $980 million disappearing from the coffers, as compared to $1.6 billion the same quarter last year.

Additionally, Sprint’s also posted gains in their pre-paid count, adding 435,000 customers to their Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile brands. But those brands operate at a pretty hefty discount, and that’s not helping Sprint’s bottom line. It is worth noting that the bottom line has been affected by large costs related to the acquisition of the previously-mentioned Virgin Mobile and regional sub-operater iPCS, as well as investments in WiMax quasi-subsidiary/provider Clearwire.

At the very least CEO Dan Hesse and Sprint investors have to be happy that the pace of losses has slowed. Whether they’re just thinning out the herd so that only Sprint loyalists remain, or we’re looking at a slow change in the public’s perception of Sprint remains to be seen.

[via: MobileCrunch]

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[YouTube Link]

Although last week was a short work week, activity in the wireless and gadget world seemed to be in hyperdrive. Sprint and T-Mobile had announcements. Apple held their "dog and pony" with Steve Jobs returning to the stage. And speaking of returns, during the kickoff of the NFL season on Thursday night, Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse showed up in a number of commercials. The big story for Palm (and Sprint) was the unveiling of the Pixi. And pricing confusion reigned once again.

In the midst of all that news, let’s not forget that sometimes it’s about the joy of a new Palm Pre – above, an oft-twittered video of just that.

Without further ado, let’s talk Pre!

read more

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Sprint CEO Dan Hesse sat down at the Fortune-sponsored Brainstorm: Tech conference in Pasadena, California this week to talk about the future of mobile computing. And of course, the Palm Pre came up (would we be talking about it if it didn’t?). On the device, Hesse said that the launch was a success, but sales numbers were until recently very constrained by supply issues, not a lack of demand. And because of the initial limited launch, it’s going to take a while before they can declare the Pre a smash hit or not: “You won’t know if we have a real hit on our hands until its been out three months, four months, five months … It’s too early to tell.”

Hesse also took up the defensive against claims of inordinately high return rates, taking the analysts to task for their speculation, “Most of the speculation I read is wrong.”

Lastly, there’s that other Linux-based mobile phone operating system: Android. Hesse commented that Android was not ready for prime time when it was released, and it’s taken to the latest 1.5 iteration and HTC’s fancy new UI for it to be up to snuff for Sprint. At least one new Android model will land on Sprint this year.

[via: CNET and Reuters]

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‘Ole Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO extraordinaire, just days ago put the smackdown on Verizon, telling them to “check their facts” and declaring that Sprint’s exclusivity with the Pre was longer than six months, and Sprint themselves have said that they have an exclusive on the Pre at least through 2009. According to the Wall Street Journal’s source – a person familiar with the situation – the Palm Pre will land with big V in January 2010. That’s both after the close of 2009 (by virtue of being 2010), and also longer than the six months Ivan Seidenberg spouted off (seven months, to be precise). Adding the Pre to Verizon would nearly triple Palm’s addressable market share.

[via: PreThinking]

Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

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In recent days the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon have dealt a double whammy of blows to Sprint’s Palm Pre exclusive. While nobody had confirmed how long that exclusive was going to last, Sprint’s two larger competitors came out saying that they wanted to grab the Pre after the exclusive expired. Needless to say, Dan Hesse’s none-too-pleased about it, especially considering that Sprint was the one network that decided to risk it with the Pre. So Sprint has come out and admitted to the Wall Street Journal that their exclusive with the Pre will last until the end of the year. Good news for Palm, not-so-great news for Sprint.

Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

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It sounds like Palm Pre buyers should be prepared for potential disappointment on June 6th, as there’s talk of limited numbers of the smartphone being available at launch.  Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has told investors that the reason for the relatively low volume of Pre advertising is because the carrier expects shortages.

“We don’t intend to [...]

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As reported by Reuters (and then every other news outlet under the sun), at an investors conference this morning, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told shareholders:

“We don’t intend to advertise it heavily early on because we think we are going to have shortages for a while. We won’t be able to keep up with demand for the device in the early period of time.”

This jives with earlier rumors about there being a limited supply for the Pre on hand at launch, possibly around 375,000 units – all to be spread out to thousands of Sprint stores and select Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Radio Shack locations nationwide. Analysts Lawrence Harris of CL King Associates doesn’t expect that Sprint will be able to poach many customers from Verizon or AT&T, saying, “It’s going to sell principally into the base, to existing Palm owners and existing Sprint subscribers.”

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