Sprint was blissfully happy to be the only US cellular carrier with unlimited mobile broadband — lording it over the likes of AT&T and Verizon on TV — but now it’s putting an end to the all-you-can-eat data buffet for all large screens. Starting with your very next billing cycle, your formerly “unlimited” WiMAX mobile broadband and hotspot plans won’t be unlimited any more, leaving your dongles, hotspots, netbooks and tethered devices with just up to 10GB of combined 3G and 4G data per month and a nickel per megabyte overages. Just take a look at this chart:
Sprint pulls the plug on unlimited 4G data for hotspots, dongles, and computers
is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
Thankfully, regular smartphone data won’t be affected — recall, Sprint subscribers pay a $10 surcharge for the privilege these days — and 3G connections were already limited anyhow, but the mobile hotspot add-on probably doesn’t seem like such a deal anymore. For new subsidized tablet buyers however, this must feel like a sucker punch. Sprint raised the early termination fee on devices to $350 just two months ago. There’s always the chance you could cancel sans ETF if you argue that this is a “materially adverse change of contract,” though.
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