Sprint TP2, 3G new fees, forced new plans, no grandfather, no upgrade path

[teradog]

*edit #3 cleaned up the rant* (changed the title to reflect the new content since I couldn't delete)
The original intent of this email was to provide some info on an upgrade path of the TP2 to a new phone..., without incurring additional monthly fees, or being forced to change plans and/or carriers.. and give some links of access to discounts, and other helpful links... This has all changed with a new January Sprint policy, there is no typical upgrade path as we have known it for years... See below..

I was misinformed by a Sprint rep. (imagine that), that you could upgrade to another 3G phone. So, I did a write up on the new Echo that has dual screens, can combine into one... it's only a 3G phone like a TP2, but has a 1Ghz processor as well... as it turns out, the rep was wrong & the fees for me would over triple and increase substantially for most other long term customers.

After speaking with account services (retentions) I was able to confirm what DOC & mwalt said below, which is summed up in these 2 items.

"Welcome to the Hotel California... but...You can never leave"... a Sprint TP2 that is...
1. You are no longer grandfathered in a plan, any new sprint phone you buy (that has data lol..) you have to upgrade your plan to an everything plan. Even another 3G phone!

2. There is no longer a 4G $10 fee... as of January it's now every new phone including a 3G new phone (like the ECHO) must pay... "Premium Data Fee"

The result for me is over 3 times my current cost! But it isn't all about what it would cost me.... As a real long term customer, I can understand the need for cost increases, but I feel they really have gone about this all wrong!!! Would I pay over 3 times as much monthly bill for my other bills, with only a minimal benefit to me? No The $10 fee doesn't even get me that much, but the almost triple of my monthly bill AND a $10 fee for each phone AND you don't even get 4G (if moving to the Echo, the original intent of this thread), seemed a bit odd.

So, I ask you. As a pure marketing decision... after Sprint poors millions into product development, advertising, etc.. of the dual screen Echo: Would you knowingly & happily buy a new 3G phone if you knew you could get a Comparable 4G phone, (1. a dual processor from either Sprint or another carrier, or a 2. a 4.3 " EVO or 3. a 4" Epic with faster hummingbird 1Ghz processor) at the same price??

My guess? IMHO: Sprint will lose far more money in development, advertising, support gearup, etc.., loss of sales due to the Echo being manufactured @ 3G & released to market after the 4G boom, and increased fees (to equal 4G), than it will ever make by forcing current 3G users off their current plans & adding $10 data fee per phone on 3G phones!

What did I just say? :>)) I predict a huge failure for the Echo!! In fact imo, the only thing that would save the Echo (it's not even out yet.. lol) is to present it as an upgrade path for phone like the TP2... keep your current plan.

With options like Boost @ $50/mo & Straight Talk @ $45/mo unlimited talk/text/data, why would I (anyone in their right mind) pay $172/mo instead of $98ish for a couple 3G phones??? So, ultimately there will probably also be another large loss of customers to others again.... which if looking at the books for sprint must be factored into the losses.

In speaking with account services for an hour... I found out a couple more tid bits.. (but he couldn't really say it directly, it was a bunch of yes & no's... however was very clear)
* Sprint can't legally charge for 4G because not all areas have it, so the only thing they could do was increase costs across the board.
* He was willing to cut the $10 data fee/mo for me on any phone that wasn't a 4G phone... unadvertised...

(at the end he laughed, said he enjoyed the call & agreed with much of what I said)

I am very sorry if there are other threads with some of this same info on, or if any has been boringly over regurgitated... I found out much of this after I started the thread & couldn't delete it... so may as well clean it up & restate. Sorry also for the way too wordy long post! :>))

Thanks

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One question... who in the heck is going to buy an Echo now?! Why would anyone buy a new 3G phone if they can get a 4G phone for the same price?! So what about if I tried to buy a TP2 which is still on their website for sale... would I have to get a new plan & pay the $10 extra fee?!!!

Doesn't seem like a good business decision! If you're going to turn off your long term most loyal customers... Why not do it in 2 stages?! Force them off their plans step A., then charge the $10 4G fee for 3G phones a year down the road... but no... let's do it all at the same time... perhaps we can loose more customers.

...so they spend 2 years developing this awesome dual screen, dual battery fold out huge screen (s) & kill it out of the gate by requiring new plans & a new "premium data" fee (old 4G fee)?! hmmmmm

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*edit* Am deleting most of this post as it no longer applies, will leave some of the info & links that may help others...
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"The Touch Pro 2 is a slow, outdated phone..." ....hmmm maybe NOT
Mine is Overclocked over 800 mhz & kept clean & fast.. I've used a few of the EVO's that were bogged down with zillions of texts, email, full cache, cookies, etc.. that were running much slower than my TP2!! But since a lurker with zero reputation got a few seasoned geeks here going in another thread off topic... I may as well chime in here! lol

Putting your potential upgrade info all together...
I. My 4G test results with frontier.net speed tests, only 33% faster than 3G
II. DELETED
III. DELETED
IV. Other alternatives
V. Other cost savings
VI. Prolong your TP2 life, double usable RAM & speed

DELETED
I. partial delete
Why? The good & bad... my testing reveals almost 3 mb/s currently with Sprint 3G, & only around 4.2 mb/s with 4G, only 33%ish faster. (almost 3 mb/s for me with field test of -48 to -54 dbm awesome reception I personally get) You may have substantially different test results, however a very old & trusted site I speed test with gives me far less mb/s than Verizon, Sprint & Clearwire "in store" test sites they flashed in front of me... done @ their locations with my test site... not one of them got to 5mb/s.


II. Currently paying $40/mo for 2 phones 1000 SHARED min. and data. (not SERO / EPRP, also not including 2 phones insurance or the $5 more for hundreds of extra "safeguard" min we never use, that I can dump off my plan anytime, but it's nice to have)

We'd pay at least $140 for 800 min (mandatory plan upgrade to a minimum of 2x$69 everything plans @400 min each) plus $10 each premium data if we went with a 4G phone EVO or Epic, that's $160 AND over $12 more in taxes (extra sprint surcharge.. universal access, etc.), which brings the total to:
$172 per month if we want to go 4G.

So to go 4G & only gain 33% network speed it would cost me an:
Extra $132 per month! Or,
$1,584 a year more. You can buy a new phone every 10 weeks for that! So, for me, I'm staying @ 3G.. which seriously limits the new phone choice. Until now!! (very quick & rough numbers) (avg. private customer, personal use, no sero/ EPRP, or work discounts... of course non of us are average right?! yea yea, I know, don't flame the thread with what a great deal you get & how all the rest of us are idiots.. :>))
*edit* make that $172 / mo, an extra $132/mo, $1,584 / yr for ANY NEW PHONE!!

III.partial delete
Check out the new "Echo" Sprint 3G only & cheap $199!
Dual 3.5" screens, expandable to become one giant screen, 800 x 960 resolution. Dual batteries,
Echo size: 3.5" screen 4.53" long, 2.23" wide, and 0.68"
(TP2 size: 3.6" screen 4.56" x 2.33" x 0.68")

Virtually the same size as TP2 when closed, single screen!! Actually just a tad smaller than TP2, H&W, same thickness!

Essentially swapped the keyboard with another screen (and battery?)!

Sprint | Introducing the Kyocera Echo™ - only from Sprint
PPCGeeks.com » Sprint Announces Kyocera Echo
Official: Sprint Kyocera Echo Release Date, Specs, And Price Revealed

Possible downside? Android, not Windows, but depending on what flavor ice cream you like... perhaps that's an upside for you!

Obviously, it's not even out yet... NO UPGRADE PATH, partial delete...
Disclaimer... obviously would prefer more than a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor but it does have 2 times the clock speed of the 528 Mhz Tp2... (yes dual would be nice also..) (much discussion left out)

Why another thread on these beat to death, already over abused topics? Just cause... & was going to post this as a reply to a post in a ROM thread, way too long & off topic... and it summarizes much of the data buried deep in some of the other threads...
Mods, if you're just to bored with this topic... go ahead & wipe out this entire thread! LOL!!

IV. What other alternatives are there???
Some Windows 7 devices with the same screen size we have now... ( but am now running SPB with XDA Mskip WinPhone 7 theme on wifes TP2, now anyway, sooo... yawn...)

Anything else?!
Yep, buy a used EVO or Epic, and put it on Boost Mobile (Sprint) & run it 3G for $50 /month unlimited everything!
XDA how to Epic 4g to Boost Mobile (how to get the 3g working)
YouTube 1, YouTube 2
PPCGeeks discussion


V. Side topics: money & low cost related:
A. APPLY FOR SPRINT DISCOUNTS (up to 27%)
Don't know if this still works but many on this source thread found it useful & seems it's still a working link... (thanks ezln0423)

B. May still be possible to get insurance on a used phone still.... "add TEP when you do an online ESN swap" (rumored to not work anymore, but a nice CSR may be able to help..)

C. Sprint SERO, now "Everything Plus" also called EPRP, info here.
Anyone else have fast new low cost Sprint alternatives with big screens?


VI. Prolong the life, keep using your TP2, double your RAM & speed, read this:
DREAM PHONE - Mini guide :>)) updated startmenu remover cabs

*edit*
Added:
Sprint to Throttle Data"Sprint on the other hand is not ready to lose any customers after such a decision so instead of canceling the unlimited data plans they’re going to simply throttle it. In other words once you reach a certain traffic limit, which remains unknown for now, you’ll either have to pay for using the same speed when browsing the web on the go or you’ll have to settle for crappy web surfing speeds.