As Sprint phases out the ‘Roam Only’ option on their phones, the days of great reception thanks to Verizon’s network are coming to an end. In an early sneak preview, Engadget was able to get their hands on the Sprint Airave and the bottom line is that the device is solid but it would nice if we didn’t have to pay $4.99 or $14.99 per month for reception we should have in the first place.
We’ve mentioned the Airave in the past and the August 17th nationwide launch is rapidly approaching so we’ll take this time to make sure we are all on the same page. The Airave allows Sprint customers to use their broadband connection to complete their phone calls for $49.99 and a monthly fee of $4.99 if you want the calls to deduct from your minutes or $14.99 for unlimited minutes. The customers who will benefit most from the Airave are those living in areas where they suffer from horrible reception at home and they already have Sprint’s Simply Unlimited Plan ($99.99/month). Those customers will enjoy a measly $4.99 add-on to their current rate plan and they will be on their way to unlimited calling at home without worry about reception issues.
The customers who will care about the Airave fees are those not on unlimited plans (specifically SERO customers) who enjoy a low monthly plan. In this case your choices are to pay the $4.99/month and have the calls completed while using the Airave deduct from the minutes in your plan or pay $14.99/month. When you are use to a $30/month SERO plan, increasing your monthly bill by 50 percent is a drastic turn for the worse. Why should we pay Sprint more money per month to have service where we live in the first place? Why is Sprint killing the ‘Roam Only’ option on all upcoming phones (and in the latest ROM updates for existing phones like the Sprint Mogul)?