Sprint on Friday rolled out a revised prepaid program that features cheaper plans and new smartphone choices. Sprint Prepaid is designed for customers that don’t want a wireless contract but also aren’t interested in traditional “prepaid brands” like Boost Mobile, MetroPCS or Virgin Mobile.
Sprint Prepaid for smartphones consists of two plans. The first includes unlimited talk and text messaging without data for $45 while the second features unlimited talk and text messaging as well as 2.5GB of data per month for $60. Extras like insurance, directory assistance and international calling and texting are available for an additional fee and must be paid up front.
It’s worth pointing out, however, that Sprint reserves the right to throttle data speeds down to 3G during video streaming. Otherwise, the plans allow a handset to use the company’s growing 4G LTE network.
Customers interested in the new plans can choose between the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, the Galaxy S3 and the Moto G. The former handset is Spark-enabled, the Mini is LTE-capable and the Moto G works over 3G only. We are hearing that the iPhone 4s (pre-owned) is another option but customers must select the $60 plan to use it.
While the new prepaid options carry the Sprint brand and will be available in Sprint stores, they aren’t exactly the best value around. Sprint’s own Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile brands offer better deals and more phones to choose from. Both brands also operate on Sprint’s network so you get the same coverage and have access to 4G LTE.
