Engineering News Blog

Engineering News

Latest news of interest to engineers. Sourced from GlobalSpec's Engineering News

Previous in Blog: Laser Gatling Gun A Real Blast   Next in Blog: Can Science Explain Why I'm A Pessimist?
Close
Close
Close
2 comments
Rate Comments: Nested

The Almost-Free Cellphone

Posted July 09, 2013 10:52 AM

From IEEE Spectrum Recent Content:

Back in the mid-2000s, Sprint, the No. 3 cellular provider in the U.S., had a plan. It was going to rebuild its entire network using a new protocol called WiMax. It was basically going to get out of the telephony business and sell data usage. Voice calls would be handled as voice over IP, and subscribers charged by the megabyte. The network would be open to all comers, and Sprint fantasized about companies like Panasonic building cameras that would upload directly photos to Flickr and Facebook and come with a free month's worth of usage on the Sprint network.

Read the whole article

Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 42355
Good Answers: 1693
#1

Re: The Almost-Free Cellphone

07/09/2013 5:39 PM

You're kidding right?

No CliffsNotes??

If anybody wades through the whole thing, post a short synopsis, please.

Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - New Member Engineering Fields - Nuclear Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: No. VA, USA (No, it does NOTu mean "won't go"!)
Posts: 1796
Good Answers: 75
#2
In reply to #1

Re: The Almost-Free Cellphone

07/10/2013 8:18 AM

Not free. Cheap. Not very good availability, but availability nonetheless. Lot's of "wouldn't you like to also buy?" offers, to be expected from someone whose revenue stream has to be in add-ons, instead of in the regular monthly service. Can be nearly free, is definitely better priced for bare-bones service.

Detractors abound, but they seem to be people who think that because it is available at all it must offer everything the "big boys" offer for a FAR LOWER price.

In short, if you can live with repeating "no I don't want the extra service", don't mind paying USD 50 to 100 to buy your device, and getting a refurbished device for that price, and don't need Cadillac service for a Yugo price, they are golden. Limited talk time, unlimited text,Free. In comparison, Walmart Family mobile offers the same quality, unlimited text and talk time, for a USD 20 device (the Samsung T139 phone), and a USD 50 monthly fee. Freedom Pop sounds like a good buy, despite the detractors. Depends on what you need for your money.

__________________
Been away a while. Miss all my old friends. Some of you I KNOW are still around. Where are the rest?
Reply
Reply to Blog Entry 2 comments

Previous in Blog: Laser Gatling Gun A Real Blast   Next in Blog: Can Science Explain Why I'm A Pessimist?

Advertisement