Sprint

T-Mobile offering free year of unlimited LTE data for referrals and switchers

Now that the T-Mobile-Sprint merger is off, it looks like the race is on for the definitive third place spot in the ranks of US carriers. Sprint fired the first shot with its new 'Family Share Pack' plan, and today, T-Mobile responded.

The magenta carrier announced today a new promotion that will benefit both current and new customers. Starting next week, the company will start giving away one free year of unlimited LTE data for referrals and switchers...

Sprint announces new ‘Family Share Pack’ shared data plan

Sprint this afternoon announced the 'Sprint Family Share Pack,' a new shared-data plan that offers double the high-speed data of its two largest competitors, at a cheaper price. The plan, which will become available later this week, will enable customers to have as many as 10 mobile phone lines share 20 gigabytes of data for just $100 a month. More details below...

Sprint no longer trying to acquire T-Mobile

The Wall Street Journal just announced that Sprint Corp. is terminating its attempts to purchase T-Mobile US Inc, due to regulatory issues. Over the past several months, we've seen several reports that Sprint was in talks with T-Mobile over a buyout deal, and even that the deal was close to finalizing.

If the buyout had taken place, the results would be a decrease in competition and very likely an increase in cellular plan pricing. According to WSJ...

Bloomberg: T-Mobile and Sprint close to finalizing buyout deal

Bloomberg is reporting this afternoon that Sprint and T-Mobile are getting very close to reaching a deal for acquisition. The outlet says that the purchase, if agreed upon, will be made in about 50% stock and 50% cash, but there's no word yet on price.

Sprint has been rumored to be interested in T-Mobile for months now. The carrier, which was recently taken over by Japan's SoftBank, has been impressed with the 'uncarrier' movement, and a buyout will make it more of a threat to AT&T and Verizon...

Sprint device protection, now with data security, automatic backups and personalized tech support

The United States wireless carrier Sprint, the nation's third-largest, on Monday introduced a new equipment protection plan that offers additional protection for your tablet and smartphone devices for an additional two bucks per month. The Sprint Total Equipment Protection Plus (TEP Plus) plan costs thirteen bucks per month, per device.

It offers everything included in Sprint's existing $11 per month Total Equipment Protection - theft insurance, accidental damage and next-day loss, to name a few - and then some more: data security, personalized tech support and automatic media backups.

Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Sprint said to be preparing to buy T-Mobile this summer

According to a new report from Bloomberg, Sprint is preparing to acquire T-Mobile this summer. It's a rumor we've heard before, but the outlet says that the carrier has met with a number of banks, and plans to make a serious bid as early as June.

SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom, which own majority stakes in Sprint and T-Mobile respectively, are said to be in 'active discussions' over the buyout and possible CEO prospects. And unsurprisingly, T-Mobile's John Legere is the leading candidate...

Sprint news: 6 free months of Spotify Premium, LTE covering 225M people, Harman Kardon partnership

Sprint held a 'Hear It For Yourself' media event earlier today that saw the announcement of a Harmon Kardon version of the HTC One M8 handset.

As part of the presentation for select members of the press, executives with the nation's third-largest wireless carrier have said that all new and existing postpaid customers on Sprint's 'Framily' plan will get six free months of Spotify Premium, iPhone owners included.

Android and Windows 8/8.1 smartphone owners are eligible for this offer, too.

Premium Spotify subscriptions start at ten bucks per month, which buys you higher-quality unlimited streaming with no advertising...

All Sprint devices released after February 11, 2015 to be unlockable

As much as carriers would want to keep devices locked to their network to make switching service impossible, this is fortunately just a pipe dream. Last December, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was able to successfully pressure major U.S. wireless companies to agree to unlock their devices for use on other domestic networks.

The US House in February passed a device unlocking bill and now the nation's third-largest wireless operator Sprint has responded by announcing it will make all of its devices released after February 11, 2015 unlockable for use on competitors’ wireless networks without repercussions...

Apple joins Google, HTC and others to curb smartphone theft

Apple has entered into the "Smartphone Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment" with HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and others, to curb the smartphone theft epidemic that has been plaguing many city streets.

Under the voluntary agreement, the manufacturers are planning to add several new security features to their smartphones going on sale after July 2015, to make for an industry standard.

Under the Commitment, manufacturers' smartphones must: 

Sprint now offering up to $650 for new ‘Framily’ subscribers

Following in the footsteps of T-Mobile, Sprint announced this week that it is now offering up to $650 in equipment trade-in and early termination fee credits to new subscribers. The goal of the promo is to entice customers to switch over from their current carriers.

Folks looking to cash in on the 'Framily Switching Bonus' offer must port their existing phone numbers from another company to Sprint. They must also trade-in their previous handsets for new smartphones, and subscribe to one of the carrier's new Framily rate plans...

Sprint’s Ting adds support for the iPhone 5

Sprint's MVNO Ting has announced that it now supports the iPhone 5. The carrier previously only supported the iPhone 4 and 4s, and a handful of Android devices, so the additional choice should make its customers happy.

For those unfamiliar with Ting, it's essentially the T-Mobile of the prepaid/MVNO world. It's mission is to disrupt the way users are billed for their cell phone usage, by only charging for minutes, messages and data they use...

AT&T tops Verizon in customer service survey, T-Mobile most improved

J.D. Power and Associates published its bi-annual report on wireless customer care performance this week, ranking the top 4 US carriers based on various stats related to customer service.

The marketing research firm asked more than 7,000 subscribers how satisfied they were with the customer service they received from their cell phone provider, and here is how they scored...