As phones get more powerful and data speeds become faster, customers are using more data than ever before on their handsets. We're inching toward widespread 4G and wireless downloads that are faster than some home Internet connections, and tiered data pricing is becoming increasingly likely. AT&T has already made the move, Verizon has said that they're considering it multiple times, and now Sprint is mulling over the decision, too. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse recently said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that "Tiered pricing is something we look at.” Hesse also explained that some of the heaviest data users on Sprint have actually ended up costing the carrier money, which is totally within the realm of possibility. No word on when Sprint will implement tiered pricing, but I'm sure that all carriers will be moving to tiered data at some point in the future.
While this news may come as a disappointment for many Sprint customers, it's something that we'll all have to get used to. It's been said in the past that most users don't come anywhere near the 5 GB soft caps that are usually a part of "unlimited" data plans, so why not introduce data plans that save the customer money and potentially bring less congestion to the network? Those of you who value unlimited data better get a good grip on your current plans, because they're going to be disappearing.
