Sprint confirms 5GB data cap, offers details

The bad news: The rumors of Sprint imposing a 5GB monthly data limit on broadband users is, indeed, true. The good news: You won't get cut off at the knees the first time you breach the limit.

Kent German over at Crave got the full skinny from Sprint, which—until recently—had been the last of the big U.S. 3G carriers without a data usage cap. Word leaked out about the 5GB monthly cap (or 300MB when roaming) earlier this month, and now Sprint's coming clean with the details.

First of all: The cap (which goes into effect next month) applies only to broadband card and phone-as-modem users, not for those who have unlimited Power Vision plans on their phones.

Also: Sprint told Crave that it won't automatically disconnect broadband users the first time they bust over the 5GB monthly limit; instead, you'll only be in trouble if you exceed the cap in "two out of three consecutive months."

Sprint added that it'll contact offenders before disconnecting them and "give them a chance to change their usage, if they want to continue using the service."

All in all, Sprint's new policies seem reasonable enough (although I liked the idea of no-strings unlimited usage a lot better), and the carrier claims that "99.5 percent" of its broadband subscribers never approach the 5GB monthly limit anyway. Check out Crave for more details on the new data usage limits.

That said, as a Sprint broadband customer myself, I would have appreciated it if someone at Sprint had, you know, reached out to tell me this was happening. Maybe there will be a notice on my May bill, which is due in the mail any day now, but a little advance word would have been nice.

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Sprint addresses data usage limit [Crave]