We hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but not only are phone prices going up with no end in sight, but affordable carrier plans will be few and far between going forward, it seems. After their merger failed, Sprint and T-Mobile will now have to focus on expanding their networks, and boosting profitability on their own, which will be affecting their plan pricing, and their heretofore "affordable carriers" mojo.
Sprint, which reported a much larger customer churn than the other three carriers, due to its promos expiring en masse, already said last week that from now on it will be chasing only valuable customers, rather than engage in breakneck market share pursuit with discounts that come to bite your bottom line a year or two down the line.