24-month device financing paired with a $15 discount on monthly service price
It was only a matter of time until Sprint finally joined T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T with a program to offer customers early upgrades, and its upcoming offering is purportedly called "One Up." Similar to JUMP, Next and Edge from T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon, Sprint's One Up program will give customers access to new handsets every 12 months by choosing to enter a financing agreement for a phone over 24 months. Here's how it breaks down:
With One Up, you will buy a phone for $0 down and commit to 24 equal monthly payments — i.e. a $650 phone will be $27 per month. At the start of the 13th month, you'll be given the option to trade-in your existing phone in good working order and start a new 24-month One Up payment plan. But this is where things get interesting.
If you buy a phone through One Up and choose an "Unlimited, My Way" or "Unlimited All-In" plan, Sprint will cut you a $15 per month break on your monthly service costs. That means an unlimited plan with Sprint can cost as little as $65 per month when you choose to finance your phone. This is similar to the way T-Mobile decouples the cost of the phone and the plan, although in Sprint's case you're getting a discount that's smaller than what you're paying for the phone.
