Sprint is known for being rather friendly to mobile virtual network operators, better known as MVNOs, having leased out its airwaves to companies such as Boost Mobile, Ting, Virgin Mobile and Voyager Mobile. Today Sprint introduced a new program that not only takes its MVNO love a step further, but is also a move to reduce the number of inactive phones floating around in the U.S. Dubbed "Bring Your Own Sprint Device," the initiative allows consumers to bring a deactivated Sprint device to one of the Now Network's MVNOs and activate it on that service. Devices must meet certain specifications before they can be activated by a MVNO, but Sprint hasn't gone into detail on what those requirements are.

Sprint MVNO Ting launched its own "Bring Your Own Sprint Device"-style program late in 2012 that allowed its users to bring select hardware onto its service, and now it looks like Sprint is enabling a similar service for all of its MVNOs. The "Bring Your Own Sprint Device" program sounds pretty neat, as it'll give consumers more ways to put their old Sprint phones to use after they're done with them rather than just tossing them in a desk drawer with the paperclips. Those people will now be able to sell or give away their old hardware to be used with an MVNO, and they can also take a look at moving to an MVNO themselves and not worry about having to new a new phone. Sprint also believes that "Bring Your Own Sprint Device" is good for its MVNOs since they won't need to subsidize the hardware that their users are activating. Would you consider taking advantage of the BYOSD program to activate a Sprint-branded device on one of the carrier's MVNOs?

Via Sprint