Sprint Launches 4G Ad Campaign With iPhone In Hand
March 23 2010 Categorized Under: Cell Phones, Networking, Wireless Tags; 4g, ad campaign, Advertising, AT&T, campaign, iphone, Overdrive, pitch, sprint, tv No Commented
And here we go again with other carriers in the US trying to get some of the hot iPhone action. Sprint has recently launched a TV ad campaign that features the iPhone along with a pitch for their new 4G service.
Sprint is amongst a consortium of carriers and broadband providers who are trying to mass-deploy WiMAX in the US. WiMAX is what is being branded as 4G in the US.
The ad campaign in question is selling Sprint’s new Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot, which is much like Verizon’s MiFi service. It creates a very small WiFi hotspot that can then be hooked up to for surfing through the carrier’s data networks. Sprint directly compares its speeds with AT&T’s speeds and claims that the Overdrive hotspot will increase the surfing speeds by 10 times as compared to what AT&T is providing.
This is good news for a lot of people who are willing to pay extra on top of what they are paying AT&T each month. Verizon’s MiFi is already on the market but it wasn’t pitched with the iPhone initially. People really liked the fact that they could use this little hotspot device instead of tethering their phones. And since iPhone users in the US can’t do it anyway, it’s a great thing that has happened to them.
But now even Verizon is pitching their mobile hotspot solution as a great companion service to the iPhone. And it isn’t like these carriers are simply taking a chance at it. Let’s face it — iPhone is what brought the whole mobile data consumption trend to life. It is what really started giving people the power to surf the entire web, taking full advantage of all its treasures, while they were on the move.
So traditionally, by now, iPhone users are ear-marked as data hogs. They simply cannot get enough of it. So if these things will give them a faster data access, there’s no reason except cost that will stop them from getting it. May be AT&T could bring some of that back by allowing iPhone users to tether but since it is fresh out of a revamp of its data networks, I don’t the carrier should that chance.
So surf away on your hotspot for now, knowing that AT&T is really hating the fact that they can’t do a ting about it. Somehow, I am sure that statement gives some iPhone users a lot of pleasure.
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