Sprint iPhone 5 could reportedly get unlimited data
AT&T has sold the Apple iPhone since its debut in 2007, and Verizon has sold the iPhone 4 since February.
Now, as rumor has it, Sprint too could start selling Apple's coveted iPhone with the release of the iPhone 5.
But what could Sprint, the nation's third-largest carrier behind AT&T and Verizon, do to make its iPhone 5 stand out from Verizon's and AT&T's iPhone 5 -- and maybe sell a large number of the fruit phones?
All-you-can-eat, unlimited data, according to a Bloomberg news report.
Sprint "plans to begin selling the device in mid-October under a deal with Apple for the next model, the iPhone 5," Bloomberg said, quoting souces who wouldn't be identified because the plans aren't public. "Becoming the country's only operator to offer the device with unlimited data service for a flat fee may help Sprint draw customers from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which already carry the phone, they said."
AT&T used to offer unlimited data but killed off its unlimited plans in 2010. Verizon scrapped its unlimited data plans in July.
Sprint is the only carrier that still offers a truly unlimited "talk, text, Web" data plan -- at a cost of $79.99 a month.
T-Mobile offers 500 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited Web data for $79.99 a month, but slows down data speeds once a subscriber consumes more than 2 gigabytes of data in one month.
Of course, all of this is still all speculation.
Apple still hasn't unveiled its fifth-generation iPhone, and we don't have a solid idea of what it looks like, what its official name will be, when it will hit stores, what its specs will be or even if Sprint will actually carry the phone or not. However, Germany's Deutsche Telekom is already taking pre-orders for the unseen iPhone 5.
For its part, Sprint has instructed its employees not to comment on the iPhone 5 rumors.
What do you think? Is this all just a bunch of online hype? For AT&T and Verizon customers, if Sprint did land the iPhone 5 and offered unlimited data, would you jump ship to Sprint? Sound off in the comments?
Sprint to sell Apple's iPhone 5? That's the rumor
A Sprint iPhone 5 could sell 1.2 million units, analyst says
Sprint to employees: Don't comment on Apple iPhone 5 rumors
-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles
Twitter.com/nateog
Photo: Two iPhone fans compare the Apple iPhone 4 and a first-generation Apple iPhone in front of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Apple store after the release of the iPhone 4 on June 24, 2010. Credit: Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images
