Transferring Sprint Phones to a Sprint MVNO's PLBL....

[ThePrepaidWay]

Hello Everyone,

I have been researching this topic for a couple days now, but still no definitive answers. Maybe you can help. The Sprint MVNO in this case would be one that has a private network or PLBL. From what I've been told, switching a sprint phone over to a sprint MVNO is as easy as inputting the ESN into the system. Then I keep seeing people that say the phone must be flashed over to the Sprint MVNO. And finally, there are the people that just say "it can't be done." I do not believe it can't be done because I have seen it done. However, I am still unclear of what exactly needs to be done to switch the phone over. Could someone please give me a straight answer?

I Appreciate it!

[ipmobility]

To clear up any confusion and give you a Solid Answer, YES: Loading a Sprint handset into the PLBL ESN database does not require flashing, just an ESN load by the MVNO.

At activation time, Over-The-Air programming (OTA) will be performed to provision the handset (or manual programming if OTA fails), but this is not considered "flashing".

Now, not every Sprint MVNO has a policy of allowing you to activate your existing device on their network, but some do. There may also be a small charge for the loading of your device's ESN into PLBL which is sometimes billed as a separate charge at the time of the ESN load, or is bundled into the activation fee.

Here's how and ESN load is Done:

1. Provide the ESN DEC or MEID DEC to the Sprint MVNO of your choice. Do not provide the ESN HEX or MEID HEX as the Sprint network does utilize these (but Verizon Wireless/PagePlus/others do).
2. Wait a week (or longer).

Here's why you have to wait:
1. Sprint has a maximum delivery time for 3G handset ESN loads of approximately 3 business days, or 5 business days for 4G devices.
2. Sprint has a brand-new policy (as of March 2012) which is forcing MVNOs to submit ESN loads in lots of 20 at a time.

Here's what you need to be aware of before you pay to have your phone's ESN loaded by a Sprint MVNO:
1. If your Sprint phone is activated at the time that the ESN load is submitted, forget about the ESN load working because it will fail.
2. If you want to load a Sprint phone that has an ESN that is reported lost/stolen/insurance replaced, forget about the ESN load working because it will fail.
3. If the phone your are trying to get loaded into the PLBL belongs to an account that is in a non-pay/disconnect status at Sprint, the load will fail.

So the bottom line is the following: If you want to bring your own device to a Sprint MVNO, make sure you know that device really really well. If you bought it off of eBay, buyer beware.


So how do I know all of this? Well because, my company is a start-up Sprint MVNO !

And finally, here's some shameless self-promotion:

Buy the HTC EVO 4G for $219.00 with Unlimited Voice, International and Domestic Text Messaging, Unlimited MMS messaging, and Unlimited 3G/4G for $69.88/mo - NO CONTRACT. All taxes, fees included at the advertised price. Promotion is good from April 5th-April 30th, 2012

www.ipmobility.co or email sales@ipmobility.co

[russsell]

Are you saying that once the phone has gone through the process you describe and is in the PLBL database it's now fully portable among the various Sprint MVNOs? What would someone need to do to move the phone from one MVNO to another? Is the MVNO information part of the PLBL database and does a consumer need to get a release of some kind from the MVNO he's moving from? Also, I went to your web page to see what your offerings were and saw next to nothing useful. I was hoping to see what plans you offered.

[TheU]

so how do i get my sprint phone added to a sprint mvno's plbl list? i have called a couple of sprint mvnos and they all say they cant do it except zapp but zapp has terrible deals right now. i would like to do it to platinum tel but they say only their platinum tel phones will work on their service which is bull because all of their phones are sprint phones.

[fonezfonz]

I don't know if people want to wait weeks for a "flash"? There are advocates on Hofo who say to just clone the damn esn. Yeah, I said it thus making ALL cdma networks regardless of policy byod. I say, stick with gsm or Verizon mvnos or even Boost cdma for easier /faster byod then all this. To each their own.

[russsell]

so how do i get my sprint phone added to a sprint mvno's plbl list? i have called a couple of sprint mvnos and they all say they cant do it except zapp but zapp has terrible deals right now. i would like to do it to platinum tel but they say only their platinum tel phones will work on their service which is bull because all of their phones are sprint phones.

For the network you're asking about there's a certain dealer who can do it provided your phone meets the conditions in post #2.

[Conan Edogawa]

Yeah, that dealer can do it. The charge is $40 as mentioned in this thread:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...or-PlatinumTel

As far as byod on Sprint mvno's goes, I think that some people would not mind waiting. Of course the activation charge has to be reasonable, and the mvno has to offer good rates. Plus, those dated refurb phones that mvno's sell are not exactly a draw to many people.

[ipmobility]

Are you saying that once the phone has gone through the process you describe and is in the PLBL database it's now fully portable among the various Sprint MVNOs? What would someone need to do to move the phone from one MVNO to another? Is the MVNO information part of the PLBL database and does a consumer need to get a release of some kind from the MVNO he's moving from? Also, I went to your web page to see what your offerings were and saw next to nothing useful. I was hoping to see what plans you offered.

Greetings,

First let me appologize as our website is still in a prelaunch state as is our online retail operation. We expect the online retail site to be operational in the next two weeks.

But to answer your question: Once a handset is loaded into the PLBL, we can definjitely activate it. The only type of release that you would need is that the handset not be activated on any other Sprint MVNO at the time that we activate the handset on our network.

We are a little different than many of the other MVNOs:

1. We have true 4G access available, on the same footprint that you would have as a Sprint Customer.
2. Even though we are a no-contract provider, we offer the full "postpaid" network that Sprint offers, but Boost and Virgin Mobile don't offer. So you get exactly the same network as a Sprint direct customer, except at a 30%-40% discount over the big guys pricing.

I will post a price/feature list on this thread later today.

Thanks for your interest,

Jeremy

[TheU]

Yeah, that dealer can do it. The charge is $40 as mentioned in this thread:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...or-PlatinumTel

As far as byod on Sprint mvno's goes, I think that some people would not mind waiting. Of course the activation charge has to be reasonable, and the mvno has to offer good rates. Plus, those dated refurb phones that mvno's sell are not exactly a draw to many people.

$40 that just crazy. how hard could it be? what a shame because platinum tel has great pricing but crappy phone selection. to pay $40 just to byod is too much when you can go to airvoice and bring any phone you want for free and get calls for $.04 and texts $.02. the only thing better on platinum tel is the data but $40 to do a byod is crazy, $20 maybe but $40 no way.

thank you anyway

[TheU]

Greetings,

First let me appologize as our website is still in a prelaunch state as is our online retail operation. We expect the online retail site to be operational in the next two weeks.

But to answer your question: Once a handset is loaded into the PLBL, we can definjitely activate it. The only type of release that you would need is that the handset not be activated on any other Sprint MVNO at the time that we activate the handset on our network.

We are a little different than many of the other MVNOs:

1. We have true 4G access available, on the same footprint that you would have as a Sprint Customer.
2. Even though we are a no-contract provider, we offer the full "postpaid" network that Sprint offers, but Boost and Virgin Mobile don't offer. So you get exactly the same network as a Sprint direct customer, except at a 30%-40% discount over the big guys pricing.

I will post a price/feature list on this thread later today.

Thanks for your interest,

Jeremy

this sounds great! if your pricing is similar to platinum tel you will do well. how much with the fee be to byod on your service?

[brages]

$40 that just crazy. how hard could it be? what a shame because platinum tel has great pricing but crappy phone selection. to pay $40 just to byod is too much when you can go to airvoice and bring any phone you want for free and get calls for $.04 and texts $.02. the only thing better on platinum tel is the data but $40 to do a byod is crazy, $20 maybe but $40 no way.

thank you anyway

Well, you do get $10 of free data, so think of it as $30. Anyway, it seems to me to be one of the only games in town if you want to get Ptel's cheap pay-go rates, so he can charge what he wants, I guess. One-time costs for telecommunications don't bother me much; it's the recurring costs that are the killers.

I did the above with an HTC Evo 4G, and "he" switched it over in 8 days. It's legit.

[TheU]

Well, you do get $10 of free data, so think of it as $30. Anyway, it seems to me to be one of the only games in town if you want to get Ptel's cheap pay-go rates, so he can charge what he wants, I guess. One-time costs for telecommunications don't bother me much; it's the recurring costs that are the killers.

I did the above with an HTC Evo 4G, and "he" switched it over in 8 days. It's legit.

true but airvoice has better call costs and the same text. you can use any unlocked gsm phone or any att phone. the idea that you have to buy a phone for sprint, pay the $40 and hope it can be activated if not there is no return of the $40. so if you buy a phone that has a clean esn but turns out it doesnt you are screwed.

[brages]

$0.33/MB data on AirVoice vs. $0.10 on Ptel, though.

Otherwise, AV looks pretty good. Can you get a $~100 card and get service for a year?

[Acrs]

$40 that just crazy. how hard could it be? what a shame because platinum tel has great pricing but crappy phone selection. to pay $40 just to byod is too much when you can go to airvoice and bring any phone you want for free and get calls for $.04 and texts $.02. the only thing better on platinum tel is the data but $40 to do a byod is crazy, $20 maybe but $40 no way.

thank you anyway

Hello, if the $40 is big deal for you , just get the $109.99 BYOD activation, and that will be included the $100 Paygo Card for 1 year of service, so you just pay $9.99 for BYOD on Ptel.
Thanks
ACRS Wireless

[brages]

^ That must be new... I would have done that.

Does the "no refunds for bad ESN" policy apply to the whole $109 ?