Sprint announces price increase for its unlimited data plan. (Photo : Reuters)
Ditching customer contracts, a trend started by T-Mobile, is slowly gaining traction in the United States wireless network industry. The latest company to join the bandwagon is Sprint which recently announced that it will introduce a new marketing model that allow customers to lease their phone instead of signing a two year contract.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the trend started by T-Mobile in 2013 is slowly being adopted by other wireless carries in the US. Verizon adopted the trend early in August. Of the four biggest network providers in the US, only AT&T has yet to offer the same leasing scheme.
For many years, the two-year contracts have been the norm in the wireless network industry. In this contractual scheme, customers sign a two-year contract and in exchange will receive a discount off the price of their phone.
In the new leasing system, customers offer cheaper monthly plans with the exemption of the yearly two-year contract. In exchange of the contract, customers have the option to pay the full price of their devices upfront or spread it through a two-year installment basis.
On top of the recent announcement from Sprint, the company previously announced a new promo called iPhone Forever. These allow customers to upgrade to a newer version of Apple iPhone anytime without losing their current monthly rate.
Sprint released a press release on its official website stating, "Anytime customers don't have the latest iPhone, they are eligible to upgrade. They bring their iPhone, upgrade on the spot and away they go. It's that simple."
