Talk about an “Epic” Fail!

29Jun/1022

Talk about an “Epic” Fail!

It was recently announced by engadget.com that Sprint's new phone, the Epic 4G, will require the $10 Premium Data add-on. This shouldn't surprise anyone, as this is what everyone thought would happen when the next line of 4G capable phones came out. The HTC EVO 4G was the first phone that Sprint offered that required the "data" add-on, but now the newest, latest and greatest phone is being released and it's also requiring this mandatory "add-on".

This diagram, which appears to be from an official Sprint source, shows that the Epic 4G will require the "Premium Data" charge. If this is true, this confirms what I thought all along; Dan Hesse made a mistake at CTIA 2010.

[via engadget.com - sorry it's small!]

Dan was quoted at CTIA 2010 by saying that 4G will be provided for FREE, as it costs the company less money to provide this service to it's customers. When Mr. Hesse stated this, it closed the door for Sprint to charge extra for any type of 4G service. How could they possibly come out and announce that their plans would now require an extra "fee" for 4G when their CEO said otherwise? It would be PR suicide! Because of that comment, they could never label any type of extra charge for 4G.

Of course, a business is about making a profit. You can't survive without making money, so when someone asked, "Well, how.. do we make more!?" they came up with something phenomenal. The Marketing Powers got together and realized that if they charged a required fee for their newest phones and labeled it a "Premium" service, they could tack this on to any phone and spit out some techno-babble and the "non-power user", or typical user, would flock to the phone and wouldn't care about any extra charge! Why care?! It's a great deal!! Check out any forum or read the wonderful "Pro-Fee" comments on their facebook page! People LOVE paying for the phone, it's so great and cheaper than everyone else, why not pay, right? THIS IS WRONG! People..Don't pay for something, just because! It's your right as the consumer to know what it is that you're spending your hard earned money for!

Please, if you're reading this, try and talk to your friends, family or even co-workers that has the EVO/Epic and ask - "Do you honestly know what the fee is for?" If more people confront Sprint about the lack of explanation of this, then we'll get an answer. But if we just roll over and let them charge us for something and provide illogical responses, and fail to explain this fee using SIMPLE wording, then how will things ever change? Companies are starting to charge for ANYTHING they can, because people just stop caring! People just pay it, because it's easier to do so. It's sad how many people are just so apathetic to this.

So, what did everyone start paying for on June 4th, according to Sprint's "Premium Data" definition?

1. Wicked Fast processor [from Sprint.com]

2. Over-sized Screen [from Sprint.com]

3. Ability to take High-Quality pics [from Sprint.com]

4. Unlimited data usage while in the 3G/4G network [quoted from BBB response]

5. Rich Data experience by having the ability to use the following applications: QIK, Sprint's TeleNav, Google Maps and Sprint Football Live, in addition to updated websites like YouTube, ESPN and Google.com. [quoted from BBB response]

6. Kickstand [EVO 4G playbook]

So, if we break this down between the two devices, you might start to see..... a flaw.

How can they state that "Premium Data", which according to Sprint is an ADD-ON - such as Road Side Assistance, would be different from device to device? Shouldn't an "add-on" be standard? How can two phones, with two totally different technical specifications be described with the same wording?

1. Wicked fast processor.

What is the speed of "wicked"? Is that just a blanket statement for phones that are 1GHz? Snapdragon vs. Hummingbird explanation. Question: Does loading apps faster (read: Calculator) use data?

2. Over-sized screen

What is over-sized? Is the Droid X's 4.4" screen over-sized, or is the Epic 4G's 4" screen over-sized? Wait, don't forget the EVO's 4.3" screen!! Question: Does a screen use data?

3. High-Quality pics

The EVO features a 8MP rear camera and 1.3 front facing camera. The Epic 4G has a 5MP camera and a front facing VGA camera. Yup, the same 5MP picture that the HTC Hero can take AND the Hero doesn't require any extra fee! Question: Does recording HD Video or taking pictures use... data?

4. Unlimited data usage

Really? Hasn't this been clarified here, here, and here? Using "more" data on an unlimited plan doesn't seem like a valid argument. "Sir, you've eaten too much at our all-you-can-eat buffet, that'll be another $10 please".

5. Rich Data experience

This is tricky. What is a "Rich Data" experience? How can you measure an experience? My old phone was a Samsung Moment. I could use QIK, TeleNav, Google Maps, and I'm pretty sure I could browse to google.com! A lot of people are "defending" Sprint by saying that you'll have the ability to send and receive HD video. Ok.. but can I do that in WiFi mode, and not be on Sprint's data network?

6. Kickstand

The Sprint PR people love this. They tell us that we'll end up losing ourselves in our data surfing, and due to this we can kick back and enjoy movies by using our kickstand. Where's the Epic 4G's kickstand? "Control-F" the Word "Kickstand"

Sprint, again.. here we are, breaking down your "Premium Data" add-on fee, and as I write this, I get more confused.

Why are we trying to justify what "Premium Data" is or does, by talking about HARDWARE FEATURES?

I am honestly glad that this was announced, in the following weeks we'll hopefully see more e-mail responses from Dan@Sprint.com. The question is no longer, "What is Premium Data", it's.. "What is Premium Data for [insert phone]?"

Gone are the days of simplicity. Funny, because my plan is named "Simply Everything".

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Fallphantom

I just got my HTC Evo. I like it lots but feel this was false advertising. I basically saw all the ads for 4g and wanted to use the phone to watch the news at night as I have no TV. Also I like the larger screen because of my bad eyes. So at first I was kind of upset that they were going to charge me $10 extra a month when I already have an unlimited family data plan. Now I feel ripped off cause there is no 4G in Nashville. It is with me a matter of principle. I don't care if they are still better than other carrier's plans. It is wrong and deceptive. The FCC is useless and run by these big companies anyway. I filed a complaint with the FCC. It is limited to 100 characters. I still have my hero so I am going to return this thing. Big let down, but how can you let them get away with it?
HiHo Off To VZW I Go

Are they comparing Verizon and AT&T unlimited talk plans to Sprints 450 minute plan? Why don't they show the $99.99 almost simply everything with unlimited talk and add the $10 fee?
Jouche

I heard that Sprint lags far behind other carriers in as far as fiber optic cable being laid and network hardware. So much for Sprints superior internet speeds.

I wonder how long the 10$ is going to be charged for mediocre performance and a phone that probably has bugs, glitches, and design defects. Can we go back to the manufacture and complain about a lack of warranty and receive a brand new phone if anything goes wrong? No? Can we go to Sprint? No?

What if I don't get faster internet because Sprint doesn't have the capacity in my area. Can I get a refund? NO?

Then what the hell am I paying 10$ for? We don't know!
Zadistik

@Getalife.

The site owner is doing providing information/educating people, and working hard to make a point with positive feedback from other sites.

What are you doing other than trolling?

Time to reevaluate who needs a life. *Hint* It's not the site owner...
nofee4meplz

@GetALife

Perhaps you need to "get a life" yourself than complaining about the people who complains about sprint.

You fall into a special category of people who complains about the complainers but deny being a complainer yourself.
Yota

@GetALife

Pointless? Better to say "I hate the fee as much as the next person but I prefer do not do anything and keep quiet and pay any unreasonable fee. Also I prefer blame the one who does something about it" or maybe better do not say anything like that? It is good chance to continue to be quiet.

I
DanHesseIsTheDevil

Yeah, talk about providing a real "premium" experience for their customers. You'd think Sprint could afford some decent QA on these updates with all the extra money they're raking in from this fee. But I guess it's all going straight into Dan's pocket instead.
GetALife

Why do you have such a hard on for Sprint? Do you not have a life? I hate the fee as much as the next person but I'm not wasting my time making pointless websites about it.
Tom

Did you hear the news? Sprint sent an OTA that Bricked some EVOs.

http://www.technewsworld.com/s...

I guess the $10 "premium data" doesn't get you a premium OTA, XD
Xian

My co-worker has the EVO and says there is no $10 fee on his bill. Is this a not-truly universal fee? Is anyone else getting away with not paying the fee?
Airen Edebiri

In regards to Rubix's original post, here's one incorrect statement (amongst many lol) I have to point out:

"Unlimited data usage: yes, you have an unlimited data plan. However you are unlikely to pull as much data from a hero as you are an evo. See high quality cameras, video conferencing, HD capabilities, etc…"

Note that there is nothing about the Evo that would naturally cause it to use more data and nothing about the Hero that would cause it to use less data. Data usage would depend purely on the user's habits.

1. My friend has an Evo but he doesn't use the video conferencing at all because he doesn't care about it, nor know anyone to use it with (speaking of which, if you look on the Sprint Facebook page, you see people asking for Qik/Fring buddies all the time, because most people don't know people to use it with). Yes the Evo has a front facing camera for video chat, but it only uses more data if the user decides to video chat a lot. This is the only feature of the Evo that no other Sprint phone is capable of that could cause increased data usage (all other things being equal), and it depends on the user, not the device.

2. High quality camera - is the Hero's 5MP camera (similarly to the Epic's 5MP camera) not high quality/high resolution? More importantly, let's analyze how that might affect data usage. When you send a pic to someone's phone, they're not getting a 5MP or 8MP pic, they're getting a smaller, resized picture. You think your grandma's old T-mobile flip phone is going to display an 8MP pic? LOL. Otherwise, sending pics on the Hero won't use that much more or less data than on the Evo.

3. HD capabilities - similarly, if you're sending a HD video to someone's phone, your recipient isn't going to get a HD video. If you're talking about sending it through Email or something....well idk if most people are going to go for that because it would take forever to send depending on the length of the video.

I don't know where you see that the Evo can "download" HD videos and any other phone cannot. If you're talking about Youtube HQ (which doesn't necessarily mean HD), keep in mind that this is only available to users in 4G, which the majority of Evo owners are not. More importantly, this only uses more data if the user decides to watch YouTube on their phones a lot.

With that being said, there are people with last gen smartphones (Hero, Moment, Palm Pre, Touch Pro 2 ,etc) that use more data that some Evo users do just because of what they use their phones for. Data usage depends mostly on the user, not the device itself.
Iceborer

I'm thinking about moving my wife and I over to Evos on Sprint from our crap AT&T service and the "premium data" fee is the one thing that may push me to Verizon instead. I actually don't mind paying the money, unlike some folks here, since the math still works out in Sprint's favor, I'd just like an honest explanation of the fee.

My personal belief is that the fee is actually an offset for the "unlimited" plan in anticipation of Evo users more heavily using the data network. One thing I do disagree with that I've seen here, though, is the notion that an additional "data charge" somehow violates the notion of "unlimited Internet." Sprint offers data without a cap on usage, but they build their network based on their expectation of their users' usage level. As we've seen many other places, most folks don't use a lot. and a few folks do. I'm guessing that the "average user" is projected to move a lot more data on these advanced smartphones than with Sprint's other offerings. As a result, Sprint thinks it needs to charge more to keep its 3G network up to snuff (and avoid AT&T's debacle).

Personally, I don't have a beef with this, since I've always read "unlimited" literally as "my use of this resource is without limit," and charging me $10 more doesn't change that. I sort of look at this more like the additional tax operators of heavy vehicles pay because they make greater (and more burdensome) use of the highways that folks in cars. Both sets get "unlimited" use of the highways, but one group pays more for the privilege.

Of course, I have no idea if my belief is correct since Sprint won't explain the fee.
nofee4meplz

rubix,

give us some money so we can pay for the monthly fee.
Tom

Rubix- you don't pay more to your cable company if you get a bigger TV. My Satellite radio company doesn't charge more if I get a better sound system. Why? Because these output devices do not change the "quality" of the data/signal that the company sends.

You may say: "But you might use more data?" The problem with that argument is that the data plan was already unlimited.

You may also say: "But 4G is better quality data?" To that I remind you that Dan said that 4G would be free.

If 4G is free and the data is unlimited, then what justifies the "data" charge?

You might say: "It's not a data charge. It is hardware charge." If you say that, then Sprint is committing a form of fraud by saying that you have full ownership of the phone when you buy it at the $200 price.
DanHesseIsTheDevil

Rubix:

Rather than regurgitating to us what was spoon-fed to you, please do some research on your own first to realize all the holes in what the Sprint rep told you.

First off, the Evo (and Epic) screen resolution is no higher than any other phone out there (except the iPhone 4). So it's not the only phone that can download HD video. Second, sure it can record HD video - this doesn't consume any data though. Can it send HD video - yes, I'll get back to this one farther down.

Next, a 1Ghz processor is pretty much standard these days on a lot of phones - nothing premium about it anymore IMO. And regardless, the processor does NOT make the phone consume more data.

Yes the screen is oversized, nevermind that it's LCD (read: lower quality) rather than AMOLED. But fine yes it's 4+ inches. In the next few weeks, lots of phones will be coming out with big screens that won't require a premium fee for it. Again, much like the processor, there's nothing "premium" about this feature. And of course, a bigger screen does not (again NOT) consume more data.

High quality pics. I'm starting to sound like a broken record here but this doesn't consume data. An 8MP camera is not a premium feature either, you can get it on the Incredible (without paying a fee for it). And 5MP, has been around since last year (read: not premium).

What does that leave us with, the front camera (for video chatting) and the ability to send HD video? Bear in mind, you can have both of these features on the new iPhone (without an extra fee of course) so they're not exactly premium anymore either. Premium to me, by the way, is something that I can't get anywhere else - your definition might differ from mine. Anyhow, you got me here, yes they consume data and quite a bit I'm sure.

But wait, I have an "unlimited" data plan and in addition to that - I DON'T have to use Sprint's network to send those things - I can use wifi. If data usage is such a huge concern to Sprint, then charge me extra or throttle me AFTER I've gone over my supposed 5GB limit.
Jim

Haha, awesome breakdown. I like your writing style!
amy

Rubix: you don't seem to get it. Yes, everything you say may be true. However, Sprint has been blatantly lying to customers (new or existing) regarding what this fee is for. It's called "Premium Data", yet the explanation of the fee mentions NOTHING about actual data usage. Have you actually seen the information on their website? If not, it's readily available here: http://shop.sprint.com/en/stor.... Also, have you considered the overall cost? If you get the phone at the advertised price of $199.99, that's not what you're actually paying over 2 years. You really pay $439.99. But wait, there's more! What if you want to keep the phone past the 2 year mark? Tack on another $10 per month. Essentially, you're leasing the freakin' phone. This isn't a car or a house, it's a phone. Would you rent or lease your PC just because it was touted as having the best processor in the PC world? Doubt it.
Michael C. Metalios

Rubix -those "features" are HARDWARE features. The huge screen. The front facing camera. The ability to record HD. So why should we pay a monthly fee for them? You pay for that when you buy the phone. Even without the phone connected to a CDMA network, it can still record HD movies. Without a cellular connection, it still has the 1Ghz processor. And connecting via WiFi will allow me to download anything I could have downloaded while online with 3g or 4g. Whatever the REAL reason for the 10 add on, they aren't justifying it very well.

So, if you see value in paying a monthly fee for hardware, then you may want to re-evaluate your plan.
Fallphantom

I agree. I paid for my phone so why am I paying a lease fee also.
jeff

this fee is like the gas guzzler tax on low mpg cars it should not be called a fee but a data hug tax
Rubix

Seriously? Its for premium data, not for 4g. It's charged everywhere regardless of 4g coverage. And the phones are capable of much more then other phones. Lets go over some of your comments here. Lets start with qik. Yes other phones have access to qik. Other phones do not have front facing camereas making video conferencing possible.

These phone can download HD video. they can record HD video(720p). They can send HD video.

They do not require wifi like some other phones out there to do these things.

Is that premium enough for you?

Lets go over your other arguments. What is wicked fast. Well, 1Ghz for a phone is pretty damn fast. And seeing how there is no faster processor out there for a wireless phone, that seems to qualify.

Oversized screen. Yeah 4+ inches are pretty oversized compared to other phones. Maybe that wont always be the case, but it certainly is today.

High quality pics, apparently someone forgot the front facing camera.

Unlimited data usage: yes, you have an unlimited data plan. However you are unlikely to pull as much data from a hero as you are an evo. See high quality cameras, video conferencing, HD capabilities, etc...

rich data experience: yes, you can use those programs on a moment. Except for video conferencing as theres not front facing camerea. However there is no FroYo to look forward to on the moment, so no full flash for it. Theres a lot more data that will be transferred through an Evo/Epic then other phones.

Kickstand: I give you this one.

I can see the value in this, and on a side note, this is how sprints reps explained it to me. Its not a fee on the hardware itself, but because of everything the phone is capable that other phones are not.

Yes some other phones may have SOME of the same features, but not ALL.
Fallphantom

Email and phone calls are just as fast. Video conferencing? Most people have a laptop so where are you going to do this? I like most the big screen and the camera, but that is not data really.

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