Verizon just killed its unlimited data plan, following in the footsteps of AT&T's move last year. And while both carriers allow previous subscribers to unlimited data plans to be grandfathered in, the lesson seems to be clear. Unlimited data plans aren't long for a world in which high-powered smartphones -- or, at least, iPhones -- exist.
T-Mobile continues to offer unlimited data, but as this Sprint ad shows, T-Mobile throttles your connection speed after you've used up 2 GB in a month. As David Ruddock of the Android Police blog put it, "It's like having unlimited milkshakes -- but after the first two, you have to drink them with chopsticks until next month rolls around."
That leaves only one top-tier nationwide carrier offering unlimited data: Sprint. And while contract-free carriers sometimes offer unlimited data, as of a few days ago one of them throttles people who go over 2.5 GB: Virgin Mobile.
Why is this relevant? Because Sprint owns Virgin Mobile.
Looking on the bright side?
The most cynical explanation is that Sprint wants exclusivity. Virgin Mobile has always been a bit of a loophole, and its "Beyond Talk" plans offer the cheapest unlimited data; if you don't mind paying full price for your Android smartphone, and you don't want more than 300 talk minutes per month, you can get unlimited texting and data from them for only $25 a month.
Sprint, by contrast, charges more. Much more. That commercial advertised unlimited data for $79 a month, and in order to get that you have to subscribe to a two-year talk and text contract, with a data plan added on top.
Virgin Mobile's site has an "Us vs. Them" comparison, which shows how much you pay over the course of a two-year contract for smartphone plans from competing carriers. It notably leaves Sprint out (and it shows Verizon as having unlimited data), but the message is clear. And it may have been only a matter of time until Sprint closed that loophole, especially now that its unlimited data truly sets it apart.
But for how long?
Whether or not the iPhone will come to Sprint is anyone's guess. But it's already got Android "superphones" on its network, like the Evo 4G and the upcoming Photon 4G. Not only are these Android smartphones super-powered, they also have super-fast 4G data connections, which the iPhone noticeably lacks.
How long will the last holdout for unlimited data stay that way? Maybe Sprint can somehow dodge the bullet. Or maybe, as Ina Fried of All Things D suggests, it's using Virgin Mobile as a test case. After all, as Virgin Mobile president David Trimble said, "We are all facing the same situation" of exploding data usage.
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