Steady Diet of Confusion

Sometimes it's not the idea that belongs on the scrap heap, but the execution. Case in point: In the fall, Sprint PCS began promoting its wireless data services with a series of packages, among them “PCS Vision for Laptops and PDAs,” which offers unlimited Internet access to users with PC card modems at a cost of $100 a month.

It didn't take long for enterprising types to figure out they could order a basic service package for about $30 a month, hook up a mobile phone to a PC using a cable and software available via Sprint PCS' own Web site, and — by using the phone as a laptop modem — score the $100 all-you-can-eat package for about a third of the asking price. This is what's known as “stickin' it to the man.”

But rather than admit its mistake, Sprint PCS is stickin' it right back. It has pulled the cables from its site, and now users who request a laptop connection are told they must spring for a PC card modem and the $100 PCS Vision package. But as of late December, the connection software was still available on the Sprint PCS site, with the accompanying text reading “PCS Connection Manager software allows laptops and PDAs to wirelessly connect to PCS Vision with a data cable and a PCS Phone or a PCS Connection Card.”

So caveat emptor, baby… I guess. At this point, who knows what's up? Sprint PCS has effectively clamped down on service plan abuse by making the necessary connections unavailable through its site. But subscribers who head to RadioShack for an off-the-shelf cable connection kit can still take advantage of the loophole, meaning not only is Sprint PCS getting fleeced for about $70 per subscriber each month, but is also missing out on the revenues that would be generated by still selling the cables itself.

That's some vision you got there, fellas.