Sprint to offer $400 in store credit to new customers

Sprint must really, really want you to become a subscriber, because on the heels of its$50 iPhone discount and $100 American Express Reward card offer, another promotion has been spotted.

According to a new report, the country’s #3 carrier will soon start offering $400 of in-store credit to new customers if they switch their service over to Sprint and sign a two-year contract…

PhoneArena has the scoop:

“For activating three or more lines on an Everything Data Share or Simply Everything Data plan, Sprint will give you $400 of in-store credit that can be used towards the purchase of “qualifying devices”, such as new phones. Your signature under a 2-year contract is required too, and the lines must be active for at least 60 days.”

New customers must be porting their lines over from a non-Sprint affiliated carrier (which means Boost and Virgin Mobile customers are out) to qualify for the offer, and the credit must be used in full at the time of purchase.

The offer begins this weekend, on August 19th, and will run through September 15th. So if you’re looking to jump on Sprint’s unlimited data plans, or score some new iPhonesnext month, this might be worth looking into.

What do you think, would you switch to Sprint for $400?

Sprint says it won’t charge for FaceTime over cellular

There’s been a lot of talk over the past few days regarding AT&T and the new FaceTime over cellular feature in  iOS 6. The carrier has yet to deny accusations that it will charge customers extra for Apple’s video calling service.

But it looks like Sprint customers can rest easy. A spokesperson for the company has just confirmed that it has no intentions of charging their subscribers extra for the new FaceTime feature…

The Wall Street Journal Reports:

“Sprint Nextel Corp., which still offers unlimited data to new and existing users on its network, said it has no plans to erect pricing barriers to FaceTime.

“We are committed to our unlimited data and that means not charging for data consumption based on the application,” a spokeswoman said.”

As we’ve said before, Sprint’s dedication to unlimited data may prove to be pivotal for the carrier in the coming months. If the next iPhone, which is expected to drop sometime in October, really is LTE-capable, Sprint will have to find some way to market against carriers with bigger, faster 4G networks.

But with Verizon already in the process of nudging its customers off of legacy unlimitedplans, and AT&T recently announcing new data plans of its own, Sprint is certainly in a unique position. The question is, what will customers go for? Network speed and coverage, or bottomless data plans.

Which one is more important to you?

Sprint heavily discounts the iPhone 4S ahead of iPhone 5 launch

We just got words that Sprint was currently selling the iPhone 4S 16GB at a $50 discount, for a total price of $149.99. According to a Sprint retailer who reached out to us, the company has been notifying stores that this new pricing would be in place until September 14th.

The timing seems very appropriate as the iPhone 5 next iPhone has been rumored to be announced at an event on September 12th, and will supposedly be available for sale on September 21st…

Although the rumor has been confirmed by several media outlets, nothing is official until Tim Cook gets on stage to unveil Apple’s latest addition to the iPhone family.

Sprint is America’s third largest carrier. It is also the last US carrier to haven entered into an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone, long after AT&T, and shortly after Verizon. Considered as the last carrier to offer true unlimited data plans, Sprint activated 1.5 million iPhones during the last quarter, far behind AT&T and Verizon.

From what we hear, this move is aimed at clearing up large inventories of iPhone 4S 16GB that Sprint committed to purchase from Apple, when it hoped it would generate sales as impressive as its competitors. Unfortunately for Sprint, this hasn’t really worked as planned so far.

Sprint Image on Apple’s Website 100% Confirms Sprint is a New iPhone Carrier

Welcome, Sprint. It’s been a long and arduous journey, but you made it to the promise land; you finally scored the iPhone.

This: image from Apple’s online store, confirms that Sprint will be the official third US carrier of the next iPhone.

These are the images that are displayed when asked to select a carrier on Apple’s website. See the Verzion and AT&T images for comparison.

Just yesterday, the image wasn’t there, but we checked today, and sure enough, there it is. What could this mean for Sprint as a carrier?

Most importantly, Sprint can compete with AT&T and Verizon when it comes to theirSmartphone offerings. No offense to the Evo, and other Android phones, but iPhones they are not.

Even Sprint’s CEO admitted that Sprint has been at a disadvantage by not having the iPhone. This time, Sprint wasn’t taking any chances.

Yesterday, a WSJ report revealed that Sprint had made a steep, “bet the company” investment, to guarantee their seat at Apple’s table.

Whether or not this will pay off or not, still remains to be seen.

Are you a Sprint customer? Would you consider switching to Sprint for one of their famed unlimited plans? Let us know in the comments below…

Sprint Will be Getting the iPhone 5

As of right now, the iPhone is only available on two major wireless carriers here in the United States. AT&T, which was originally the sole carrier of the iPhone, and now Verizonboth offer the device.

Rumors have been circulating over the past several months suggesting that Apple will finally extend the iPhone to both T-Mobile and Sprint this Fall, but so far there has been no official announcement.

Now, The Wall Street Journal has decided to chime in on the matter, and is reporting that a Sprint-branded iPhone is a lock for this October…

WSJ editor Dennis Berman sounded the alarm from his Twitter account a few minutes ago. Apparently, the publication has concrete evidence that Sprint will be carrying asmartphone from Apple this Fall.

“Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, closing a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier’s lineup and giving Apple Inc. another channel for selling its popular phone.”

According to the report, the device won’t be available to Sprint customers until mid-October. And since the iPhone 5 has been slated to launch October 7th, it sounds like Sprint might be late to the party. But better late than never I always say.

The news isn’t that surprising, given the recent reports floating around that the iPhone 5 will support both GSM and CDMA networks. Why wouldn’t Apple want a shot at Sprint’s 50 million+ subscribers?

With Sprint getting Apple’s smartphone this Fall, you have to assume T-Mobile won’t be far behind. And with the addition of two major carrier partners in the U.S., expect Apple to do big things this holiday season.

Are you currently a Sprint customer? Would you switch to Sprint if it got the iPhone 5?