Sprint launches PCS Vision
SprintPCS finally launched PCS Vision, its high-speed data service. Despite all the media hype building to the launch, Sprint is not calling PCS Vision 3G. And rightly so, since it's not 3G, it's 2.5G. Looking at the official announcement there is good news and bad news. The good news is that PCS Vision is a pretty complete offering which combines high-speed data, cool new devices (all with color screens) and a suite of applications available in all of Sprint's market. Other carriers have launched in select markets or just launched devices and networks with limited apps. The bad news is that the pricing isn't much different than the competition. Combined Voice and data plans offer only 2 megs of data for the about the same price as existing voice plans. There are introductory data only plans that range from $5 to $1 per meg depending on the size of the bucket you subscribe to. So is this the watershed launch that will spur data usage in the US? Not in this first cut. First the handsets are pretty pricey, there is nothing under $180. Second, except for early adopters, most people will be confused by the per meg pricing. Plus we don't yet know what the performance is like.
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Filed Under: 2.5g
