Say It Ain't So Sprint...Say It Ain't So!

Last week Sprint puts out some bootlegged, rehashed commercial for their Evo Shift 4G (still would've bade more sense to me if it was called Evo 4G Shift) and today they dropped a fairly huge bomb that affects all of the carrier's smartphone users.

If you're currently a Sprint customer who owns a smartphone and use the Everything Data plan, after January 30th,  you will be charged an additional $10 should you chose to upgrade to a new smartphone.  Not only does this hold true for individual plans but the $10 fee, known as the Premium Data fee, will be charged to each additional line on the family plan for those smartphone users.

Seeing as the main reason I switched to Sprint last summer was because of their pricing plans, this is a quite a downer.  On the other hand, it's still better than paying $20 for unlimited texting and $30 for data on Verizon.  That's already $50 and that doesn't even include the calling plan.  

Currently, the Everything Data plan includes (using 450 min in this example):

• Everything Data 450 $69.99
• 450 Anytime Minutes Included
• Nationwide Long Distance Included
• America - Roaming Included
• Unlimited Any Mobile, Anytime
• Unlimited SMS Text Messaging
• Unlimited Picture Mail
• Unlimited Data Usage
• GPS Navigation
• Sprint Data Essentials Pack
• Nights: M-TH 7pm-7am Wknd: F 7pm-M 7am
• Caller ID
• Call Waiting
• Three-Way Calling
• Voicemail

Below is Sprint's Press Release:

Premium Data Add-on Charge for All Smartphones
Effective 1/30/11, all current and future 3G and 3G/4G smartphone activations will require the $10/month Premium Data Add-on charge. This allows Sprint to continue to offer simple and affordable unlimited data plans for our smartphone customers, while maintaining a wireless network able to meet the growing appetite for mobile data.
Complete details are included in the Premium Data Add-on Charge Launch Guide found on ISC > Quick Links > Premium Data Add-on Charge.
Details:
The Premium Data Add-on charge applies to:

• All smartphones operating on the CDMA, iDEN and 4G networks.
  • A smartphone is defined as a device that supports a robust operating system including: Android, BlackBerry, Instinct, Palm and Windows Mobile.
• All customers activating a new line or upgrading/swapping existing lines (consumer, IL, and most CL customers).

The Premium Data Add-on charge does NOT apply to:

• S&R exchanges (warranty or insurance events)
• 30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee devices exchanges for handsets activated 1/1/11 to 1/29/11
• Existing smartphone customers will remain on their current rate plan, until they upgrade, perform an ESN swap or activate a new smartphone
• Existing Seasonal Standby customers prior to 1/30/11

Special priced CL customers tied to a Corp ID