Re: stupid sprint story "777" <888> wrote in message
news:a5ad$47533aa9$ce941c2f$28388@DIALUPUSA.NET...
> BTW what kind of dumb fuck pays an $18 fee when they're signing a 2 year
> contract ?
The $18 fee is absolutely a "junk" fee (it doesn't reflect any real
significant costs incurred by Sprint), but the reason many consumer willingly
pay it even when they know that fact is because a one-time $18 junk fee is
nothing compared to a monthly plan that's anywhere from $40-$100 for most
people.
> .... and how much does a "free" $150 phone really cost them ? ...
A lot, actually -- it could very likely be more than $150. Sprint's (last)
CEO spoke out about how this model ("give away" the phone and then get the
customer to "pay" for it through their monthly subscription) is hurting the
industry. This is true, but of course the reason it persists is that many
consumers are now used to "free" phones and even without a contract would
(initially) balk at paying $150 for a low-end phone.
> If i had to guess, i'd say it costs $65 parts and labor to make, and sprint
> gets the phone for $80 which equals 2 months of your contract @ $40/month
You think that $40/month just goes into Sprint's pockets? Deploying and
maintaining cell phone networks costs *hundreds of millions of dollars*! A
substantial part of you subscription really does go into paying for Sprint's
infrastructure and maintenance. I sympathize with you, but realize at the end
of the day the reason Sprint exists is to make money -- you don't really want,
e.g., the government running cell phone service, do you?
---Joel |