Sprint was originally supposed to launch its BlackBerry Curve 9350 back on September 9th, but the day before the new handset was supposed to go on sale, it was delayed until October for reasons unknown. It's still not clear what pushed the Curve 9350's launch back, but we do finally know when Sprint intends to release the BlackBerry 7-powered device: October 2nd. The Curve 9350's price remains the same as when it was first announced, meaning you can expect to pay $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract.
Keeping up with the Sprint news, the carrier confirmed today that it plans to stop offering one-year contracts effective October 2nd. Once that date rolls around, customers in the market for a new phone will either need to pay full contract or sign a two-year commitment. Sprint didn't offer an explanation for the change, but it did say that two-year contracts are the most popular with its subscribers.
Finally, the folks at SprintFeed have gotten their mitts on a page from a Sprint Playbook which shows that the carrier will no longer offer its Bill to Account option beginning October 5th. The feature allowed customers in good standing to bill equipment purchases to their Sprint account rather than pay in-store. This change has yet to be confirmed by Sprint.
It's good to see Sprint getting around to launching the BlackBerry Curve 9350 so that customers interested in a new BlackBerry 7 handset have another option if they don't want to plunk down $250 for the Bold 9930. As for the policy changes, well, they're definitely disappointing, but there's not much that can be done to stop them. At least there's a chance that Sprint folk may finally get their shot at a certain fruit-branded phone starting next month to make up for all of these changes, right?
Via Sprint, MobileBurn, SprintFeed
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