Change of plans? Sprint might not be dropping two-year contracts at the end of the year

Back in August, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure commented that the carrier was going to end offering two-year contracts and subsidized phones to consumers by the end of the year. While not an official announcement, the fact that the comment came from Sprint's CEO gave it plenty of weight. You might recall that it was T-Mobile that was first to get off the contract merry-go-round in March 2013. Subsidized phone contracts have been replaced by equipment installment plans, which allow a phone buyer to pay $0 down (if qualified) and pay monthly for a set period of time for a new phone.

But a report published today says that Sprint no longer seems committed to doing away with subsidized phone sales. A Sprint spokesman was quoted as saying that customers still have various options when it comes to acquiring a phone, including purchasing a device at full retail, paying monthly through an installment contract, leasing the unit, or by signing a two-year pact.

Sprint has focused on leasing phones to develop certain plans such as its iPhone Forever offering. For $22 a month above the cost of his current plan, a Sprint subscriber can guarantee that he will always be rockin' the latest iPhone. But the trick is that the customer is only leasing the device. If it breaks, is lost or stolen, or if the consumer says buh bye to Sprint, the balance of the full retail price of the phone must be paid off immediately (if not sooner).

"The $199, that is a thing of the past. The industry has changed. Consumers used to pay $199 for a phone, but they used to pay a much higher monthly fee. So I think one of the great things about the industry is we have unbundled it."-Marcelo Claure, Sprint CEO in August

Considering that we are close to the end of the year, we should expect Sprint to announce its intentions in the days ahead. The carrier has been overtaken by T-Mobile, and is now the fourth largest mobile operator in the U.S.

source: FierceWireless