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Sprint's Data Plans Not Quite 'Truly Unlimited'

Sprint touts itself as the only true option for unlimited data, but CEO Dan Hesse said yesterday that even on the Sprint network, data hogs can be penalized.

January 6, 2012

Sprint touts itself as the only true option for unlimited mobile data, but CEO Dan Hesse said yesterday that even on the Sprint network, data hogs can be penalized.

"We can manage them and we do that quite aggressively," Hesse said at Citigroup Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference.

For 98 to 99 percent of Sprint data users, "it's an unlimited experience," Hesse said. "[But] for people that want to abuse it and really run up the big data charges, we can knock them off."

Hesse didn't specify how much data use would be considered abuse. But he pointed to someone whose device was roaming while in their house in "rural Montana." So it's not completely unreasonable to think that Sprint might penalize you for using a huge amount of data while roaming on Verizon's network, for example.

In a statement issued Friday afternoon, Sprint said Hesse was not referring to postpaid customers, or customers who are billed at the end of the month. "Sprint does have terms and conditions which prohibit certain types of data use that may impair other customers' usage or harm or interfere with the network," Sprint said. "At yesterday's investor conference, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse was referring to Sprint's right to terminate service of data abusers who violate Sprint's terms and conditions."

"Reports that Sprint throttles the top 1 percent of data users are false," the company continued. "Sprint is the only national carrier offering smartphone users truly unlimited data with no throttling, metering or overages while on the Sprint network."

Sprint said it will contact customers who "abuse our network" to reach a workable solution. But "engaging in such uses will not result in throttling for customers on unlimited data-included plans for phones," Sprint said.

Sprint still remains the only major U.S. wireless carrier that allows users to sign up for unlimited data plans. T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T all have tiered data plans, with the exception of those customers who are grandfathered in to older, unlimited options, but even those users are subjected to throttling.

Hesse said providing unlimited data is a "core focus of the company." Just like Sprint pledged to improve the customer experience and brand back in 2008, the focus now is unlimited data, he said.

"We see far more benefits" to providing unlimited data than restricting data usage, Hesse said.

That only extends to smartphones, however. In October, on cards and other data devices.

AT&T ditched unlimited plans in June 2010 in favor of several tiered options: 200MB of data for $15 per month; 2GB of data (not 5GB, like the previous cap) for $25 per month; and tethering for $20 per month. Existing customers with unlimited plans could keep them, but last summer, AT&T said it would of mobile customers who use an "extraordinary" amount of data, even if they are on unlimited plans.

Verizon in July 2011: $30 for 2GB per month, $50 for 5GB, and $80 for 10GB. It its version of throttling, dubbed network optimization, in September.

T-Mobile, meanwhile, says in marketing materials that it offers unlimited plans, but if they exceed a monthly data cap—usually between 2GB and 10GB, depending on your plan.

Also yesterday, Hesse pledged to to 10 cities by mid-2012, including Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, and San Antonio.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 1:30pm Eastern with comment from Sprint.