Sprint Reveals New No-Contract Data Plans for 4G Tablets

The iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad are headed Sprint’s way. Rolling out with them will be new data plans for all of the carrier’s 4G LTE tablets, including the new iPads and Samsung Tab 2 10.1.

Sprint announced this evening that beginning on Nov. 11, customers will be able to choose from four different no-contract data plans for their tablets, with packages starting at $14.99 for 300 megabytes of data. From there, you can get three gigabytes of data for $34.99, 6GB for $49.99 or 12GB for $79.99.

Existing customers will also get a break. If you’re already on a Sprint smartphone data plan and want to add a tablet to your account, you can now do so for as little as $15 per month for 1GB of data or $10 per month for 100MB.

The carrier is also waiving activation fees on all if its 3G and 4G tablets, though it did not say how long the promotion will last.

Sprint touts that its new rate plans offer up to 20 percent more data than Verizon’s and AT&T’s similarly priced plans. Verizon’s prepaid tablet plans charge $20 for 1GB of data, $30 for 2GB, $50 for 5GB and $80 for 10GB. Meanwhile, AT&T offers 3GB of data for $30 per month and 5GB for $50.

As the No. 3 carrier behind Verizon and AT&T, Sprint has relied on offering better value plans to woo new customers and maintain subscribers. Plus, it continues to offer unlimited data plans for its smartphones, whereas the other two carriers have switched to tiered pricing.

That said, Sprint currently has the smallest 4G LTE network of the three carriers. Its LTE service is available in 24 cities and will be rolling out to 100 more cities in the coming months. The carrier plans to complete most of its nationwide LTE build-out by the end of 2013.