All the data you can handle (so long as your phone can) —

Next iPhone will get unlimited 4G on Sprint—if it’s compatible

Sprint's unlimited data is attracting new, iPhone-toting users to the carrier.

Sprint's unlimited data is attracting new customers eager to get the most out of their iPhone.
Sprint's unlimited data is attracting new customers eager to get the most out of their iPhone.

Sprint's iPhone-using subscribers will continue to have access to unlimited data service for the foreseeable future, according to CEO Dan Hesse. And that will include unlimited 4G LTE service, assuming the next iPhone is indeed compatible with the high speed wireless standard.

Sprint got its first crack at lucrative iPhone customers in October of 2011 with the launch of the iPhone 4S. The company made a reported $15.5 billion bet on the popular smartphone, agreeing to sell millions of the phones up front in order to launch the device on its network. Hesse defended that decision last month, noting that iPhone customers are more profitable than those of other platforms despite the high subsidy on the device itself.

Furthermore, the iPhone is attracting new customers to the carrier. For the fourth quarter of 2011, four out of every ten iPhone users were new to Sprint. The company's most recent quarter showed similar results, with 44 percent of the 1.5 million additional iPhone activations coming from customers who were new to Sprint.

Hesse told CNET that the carrier plans to continue to offer unlimited data to iPhone users, including LTE service if the next model comes equipped with LTE compatibility.

"I'm not anticipating the unlimited plan would change by that point," Hesse said. "That's our distinctive differentiator."

The company has heavily advertised the fact that it's the only carrier in the US to offer unlimited data to iPhone users. As many iPhone owners already know, the two most popular carriers in the US—AT&T and Verizon—both sell tiered data plans now, and neither offers an unlimited plan anymore.

"Frankly, it's a marriage made in heaven," Hesse told CNET. "We're clearly attracting customers from our competitors."

Channel Ars Technica