The following forum post excerpt was in response to a thread that had been started on XDA in regards to Sprint's data speeds being extremely slow. The argument had been made that perhaps it was slow due to the abuse of their unlimited data plan by way of a few of those with rooted devices using wireless tether indiscriminately. It was also stated that this may also lead to Sprint getting rid of their unlimited data plans altogether. With that said, I wholeheartedly disagreed with that notion and went on to explain my view accordingly...
"Whether or not people follow the TOS verbatim, Sprint is going to have their "Unlimited" data plan go the way of the dodo bird regardless.
Why?
Because they can. As someone stated previously, Sprint has a responsibility to their shareholders, just like any other corporation, to maximize profits. One way they accomplish this is by limiting overhead. You can limit overhead by only investing just enough of your profits into infrastructure to get by thus hampering overall user experience.
Now if their top executives were to take a humble salary ($60,000/yr - $80,000) just for a short amount of time (i.e. - 10 yrs or so) They could take whatever profit is made and reinvest it into improving their infrastructure & technology. This would provide a better user experience for us consumers, while keeping our costs down, which will bring more customers due to improved services at affordable pricing. Furthermore, this will also put them ahead in terms of mobile technology.
The problem with this theory is the fact that this would be considered a long term strategy & most folks would rather see their pockets full right from the gate. The irony of it all would be the fact that a long term strategy like this could possibly make a mobile company surpass the competition if executed correctly. As consumers, we would get cutting edge mobile experience at pricing that will undercut other mobile companies while the company & shareholders will have more financial success then they'll know what to do with due to the eventual huge customer base.
While I still have an unlimited plan, I for one am going to use my phone/data how I see fit. I didn't pay $300+ for a phone plus phone/data services so some faceless entity can dictate how I use what I've already paid for. That's absurd. Not to say I'm going to tether and torrent as I'd rather connect to my WiFi. I believe the whole "we're going to rid unlimited data due to people abusing our network" is just propaganda so consumers don't bust out the torches & pitchforks when the inevitable happens.
Just my $0.02"
To be perfectly honest, I currently do not have any data speed issues in my apartment. I get an average of 7Mbs - 10Mbs down and about 1.50Mbs up on WiMax 4G. However, when I lived at my house, I couldn't get 4G for the life of me and I'd be lucky to get 1Mbs down on 3G. It's for this reason that I usually connected to my WiFi at home anyway. Furthermore, although I get great WiMax speeds in my apartment, I still opt to use WiFi due to the fact that it's still faster and the ping times appear to be better. When I'm out and about, I usually just use 3G and that seems to work just fine for my needs. I'll get the occasional unbarably slow data speeds from time to time depending on my location but that's few and far between. Luckily, Las Vegas is pretty well covered in terms of Sprint data depending on who you talk to. Now that doesn't necessarily mean it couldn't be a whole lot better. Carriers have gained oodles of power and cash for years by giving us just enough for us not to get pissed. If just one of the major carriers happened to form a long term strategy to improve overall infrastructure while still keeping their costs competitive, it could benefit not only us as consumers but the carrier along with their shareholders as well.
What are your thoughts on this matter? Do you feel that a small number of heavy data using consumers are to blame for Sprint's less than satisfactory data speeds or may lead to Sprint eventually getting rid of their unlimited data plan? Do you feel these reasons are just excuses carriers use to justify higher prices or bad service? #Ponder #Food4Thought
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