iPhone News Updated

Sprint CEO Says IPhone Lightens Load

Sprint CEO Says IPhone Lightens Load

Sprint says the iPhone 4S is helping its network, not hurting it, attempting to quell reports that the device is slowing the carrier’s data speeds.

CEO Dan Hesse said concerns about the carrier’s network being overtaxed by the iPhone are unwarranted.

“There is a misperception that our launch of the iPhone will increase the load on Sprint’s 3G network and require us to spend more 3G capital,” Hesse said. “The reverse is true. IPhone users are expected to use significantly less 3G than the typical user of a dual-mode 3G, 4G device.”

According to Hesse, the iPhone actually uses 50 percent less data than Android handsets, so users switching to Apple’s devices are actually alleviating stress on the network. The data efficiency of the iPhone will likely allow Sprint to offer unlimited data plans longer than it otherwise would have, says Hesse.

The comments from Sprint’s chief executive come after some users reported slower than usual data speeds immediately following the launch of the 4S on the network. The slow speeds may have been a blip on the radar since so many users activated their devices at one time, or it may be the start of a problem that will continue to grow larger for Sprint as time goes on.

For now, data speeds appear once again to be stable, and if network speed remains consistent, Sprint may have gotten everything it wanted out of the iPhone in the short term. The iPhone has attracted customers at a higher rate than any smartphone Sprint has ever offered, boosting the Overland Park, Kan.-based provider to new levels of success since the device launched on its network earlier this month.

Even stronger than expected sales, however, don’t change the fact that the carrier says the device won’t show a profit for the company until 2015.

The jury is still out on whether carrying the iPhone will pay dividends in the long run, but now that problems of slowed data speeds appear to be behind Sprint, the carrier is temporarily in good shape. The iPhone has brought Sprint a fair amount of publicity and analysts expect the carrier’s revenue to increase by approximately $7 billion. According to Hesse, the boost means unlimited plans aren’t going anywhere for a while.

[Thanks: http://www.forbes.com]

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