Irvine, Calif. – Sprint prepaid brand Boost Mobile will begin throttling back the data speeds on its monthly unlimited plans beginning next month, Boost announced on its consumer web site.
However, Boost’s parent Sprint does not throttle data speeds on its unlimited postpaid plans.
On its site, Boost said that “starting on or about 1/20/13, Monthly Unlimited plans will offer 2.5GB/month of full speed network data but will slow to 3G speeds of 256kbps for continued data use after 2.5GB. “ As a result of the change, “customers that go over the 2.5GB threshold may experience slower page loads, file downloads and streaming media. Data speeds will restore to full 3G/4G speeds when a customer’s new monthly plan begins.”
Boost said it expects that “only a small percentage” of subscribers will hit the threshold.
Over Sprint’s 3G CDMA network, phones deliver average downlink speeds of 600kbps to 1.4Mbps, and 4G WiMAX phones download data at an average 3-6Mbps, Sprint has said.
Boost began offering WiMAX phones this year and is expected to launch 4G LTE phones in 2013. Sprint’s LTE network delivers average downloads of 3-6Mbps.
