Sprint reportedly will announce a new unlimited data plan for seniors that allows them to have two lines for $70. The plan is rumored to be launched on May 18 and will be available for customers aged 55 or above.
The move appears to be a direct response to T-Mobile, which began offering a similar plan for the age group in question in Aug. 17 for $60, which the company recently increased to $70.
Sprint To Unveil Unlimited 55+ Plan
As Android Police reports, Sprint's plan will also be called Unlimited 55+, similar to T-Mobile. For $50, seniors get one line of unlimited data and two for $70, as mentioned. For seniors, it's a no-brainer since Sprint typically charges $100 a month for two unlimited data lines.
In addition to unlimited talk, data, and text, the plan also includes unlimited mobile hotspot and Sprint's Global Roaming service, which allows users text and consume data under 2G speeds in 185 countries at no additional cost. There are, however, some downsides. For starters, video streams are capped at 480p, and music streams are capped at 500 kbps. Gaming streams, meanwhile, can only go as high as 5 Mbps. The unlimited mobile hotspot feature is limited to 3G speeds, and international roaming data consumption is capped at 100 Mbps at 2G.
These limits might sound a little frustrating for typical consumers, but consider the age group it's being offered to. Most seniors probably won't mind those caps, as it's hard to imagine they consume a great deal of media per month. Besides, 480p video, while slightly terrible, isn't really that bad. It won't look good on a premium 1080p phone for sure, but that's a small price to pay for getting two unlimited lines at that price.
Why T-Mobile's Plan Is Still Better
Even with everything stated, T-Mobile still has better roaming than Sprint because it offers unlimited data at 128 kbps instead of Sprint's abysmal 100 MB limit at 50 kbps. For those who don't really see themselves taking advantage of roaming anytime soon, either plans is definitely a great bang for their buck.
More than anything, carriers are only getting more competitive with one another in terms of unlimited data plans, and that's a good thing. For one, competition always benefits the users because they get better products and services, but more importantly, competition drives innovation. It'll be interesting to see what carriers will offer once 5G networks become commonplace in the United States.
