Mobile Notes: It’s a push to talk day, New Sprint plans

Wow, looks like Sprint is overhauling their calling plans. Big time. I’ll get to that in a minute, but before we get below the fold, there’s a bit of push to talk news from Verizon. They’ve announced that they plan to have PTT service later in the summer. This will be its answer to Sprint’s QChat. While we don’t know exactly when it’s coming, it seems Verizon thinks the investment worthy enough. Sprint, though, will get a head start.
Sprint is readying new plans for next week. The biggest news from this is that it will no longer distinguish their CDMA and iDEN plans. They’re all smushed together. Perhaps this is Dan Hesse’s way of integrating the company’s dual technology spectrum. If you were thinking of signing up for a Power Pack or Free Incoming plan, you’re out of luck. You could sign up today, I suppose, and you might get grandfathered in. No guarantees, though. For all I know, they could have sent out notices to current Power Pack and Free Incoming subscribers, letting them know that they have to change plans. They’ve introduced a tier just below Simply Unlimited, Talk/Message/Connect, which as the name implies will supply voice minutes, unlimited messaging, and unlimited Direct Connect. They’ll run $49.99 for 450 minutes, $69.99 for 900 minutes, or $89.99 for unlimited. To heap on unlimited data, navigation, and TV, add $20 to the 450 minute and 900 minute plans, and $10 to the unlimited deal. A number of family plans look enticing, too. They start with just voice, 700 minutes shared between two lines for $69.99, with $10 for each additional line. Add unlimited messaging and things get real interesting. A hundred bux gets you 1,500 minutes and unlimited messaging between two lines, and $149.99 doubles those minutes. Adding data to that will bump the 1,500 minute plan up $30, and the 3,000 minute plan up $20. Navigation, TV, and radio are included, too, but additional lines will run $19.99 per month. Not a bad deal from Sprint, we say. Their prices for more basic services might run alongside Verizon, but once you start adding features, that’s where Sprint comes out ahead.

About the Author

Joe Pawlikowski is the Senior Editor at MobileMoo.com and has been covering the mobile industry full time since 2007. When he's not writing about the tech scene, he can be found discussing his personal love - baseball (and more specifically the New York Yankees) as well as writing on his personal blog.