Sprint sticks to unlimited data, Dan Hesse just won't get off TV

Let me start by saying this.  I don't like Dan Hesse on TV commercials.  In fact, I normally race to change the channel when Sprint commercials would come on just because of him.  This time though, I find myself applauding him and Sprint for the decision to keep unlimited data options for smartphone users.

From the new commercial:

“The other day, I looked up the word unlimited in the dictionary. Nowhere in the definition did I see words like metering, overage, or throttling, which is code for slowing you down. Only Sprint gives you true unlimited calling, texting, surfing, TV and navigation on all phones.”

Don't take this as a direct fanboi post for Sprint.  This is simply support for going against AT&T and Verizon in their decision to move to a tiered data system.  Sure, 2GB sounds like a lot of data.  Normally, it would be.  


Smartphones however have evolved quite a bit over the years with their hardware capabilities and features, and continue to push forward.  This in turn uses more data up and down on the network.  Because of this, the standards of how providers operate have to change to accommodate.  Upgrades have to be done to cover the usage, which obviously requires more cash.  Thus far, the two most efficient options to cover this have been tiered data where you pay overages over the cap to cover your use, or pay a little more to maintain unlimited data.


This unfortunately has become a necessity to pick the lesser of the two evils.  In my personal experience, the more experienced smart phone users have come to understand the reasoning, and have even embraced the extra $10 charge a month to not have to baby sit their usage.  Most of the resistance has come from that group of users that have smartphones or are just buying them, and aren't familiar with what they're capable of.  I suppose if you're jumping ship from that old LG flip phone, you might not really know what you're getting into. 


In the case of Sprint, the extra charge doesn't apply to feature phones which are basically any non-smartphone.  As for AT&T and Verizon on the tiered system, I'm not completely sure at this point.  I would certainly hope this isn't the case.


Bottom line is this.  Technology advances, sometimes faster than we like.  Users want to do more, phones are made to do more, so the providers have to ensure the extra revenue is in place to go into the network so it can do more.  You can either go with it, or re-activate that old Motorola Razr you used to love so much.