With a pair of new iPads released this week and Microsoft’s Surface tablet also making its debut soon, Sprint thought it was a good time to start luring any and all slate users to its network. The carrier today rolled out new data plans aimed specifically at tablet users.
Beginning Nov. 11, existing Sprint customers can add a tablet to their account with a rate plan that includes 1 GB of data for $15 per month, or $10 per month for 100 MB of data. Sprint said it is waiving the activation fee on all 3G/4G LTE tablets for a limited time.
Additionally, Sprint will offer four prepaid plans designed specifically for LTE tablets but which also include 3G service. Those plans start at $14.99 for 300 MB of data, $34.99 for 3 GB of data, $49.99 for 6 GB of data and $79.99 for 12 GB of data.
Sprint is claiming the new tablet-only plans offer up to 20 percent more data than Verizon or AT&T for the same price.
By comparison, AT&T’s prepaid tablet data plans start at $14.99 for 250 MB of data per month, and run up to $50 for 5 GB. Verizon Wireless’ prepaid data starts at $20 for 1 GB of and runs all the way up to $80 for 10 GB.
Sprint currently offers LTE in 32 cities, with a stated goal of rolling out the service in more than 115 markets in the coming months. Sprint said it will offer LTE-capable version of the iPad mini and fourth generation iPad in “the coming weeks”.