US mobile carrier Sprint, notable for continuing to offer unlimited data plans when other carriers discontinued them, has just announced that their wireless data plans for tablets, notebooks, 3G modems and mobile hotspots is about to become a thing of the past.
Sprint has issued a statement, which can be found on their official website, stating:
If you have a mobile broadband device such as a tablet, netbook, notebook, USB card, connection card or Mobile Hotspot device, effective beginning with your next bill following notification, your on-network monthly data allowance will no longer include unlimited 4G.
From that point forward, Mobile Hotspot data will be combined with regular phone data usage, and Sprint subscribers will be forced to choose capped data plans offering a limited amount of data, and according to their statement, Spring will not be reducing prices due to their removal of the mobile hotspot features.
Subscribers that currently have unlimited smartphone data plans will be able to continue using unlimited data on their phone, but will no longer be able to use it for Sprint’s Mobile Hotspot functionality, or to tether your smartphone to computers and other devices.
So, Sprint is keeping their unlimited smartphone data plans for now, but I can’t help but think this is a slippery slope – is Sprint headed down the same road as AT&T and Verizon? If so, God help us all.
