Sprint has announced that starting January 30th, anyone who purchases a smartphone will have to pay a $10 monthly fee on top of the existing charges for smartphone use. They are calling it a "premium data" fee and it will help Sprint pay for the growing costs of smartphone usage on the network. Sprint is probably the network that best embraces unlimited data. Their Simply Everything plan, which includes unlimited voice and data, is just $80 per month. In order to stay at these prices while continuing to upgrade the network and keep it in tip-top shape, the $10 fee per month is a necessity. Current contracts will not be affected by the change.

With this sudden monthly fee, speculation is continuing to grow regarding an iPhone on Sprint. Since Tim Cook disclosed at the Verizon iPhone event that the partnership was non-exclusive, he opened up the doors for the iPhone to walk right into other carriers. Sprint is holding a mystery event on February 7th, four days after the iPhone is available for pre-order on Verizon. Could the $10 fee on smartphones really be a way for Sprint to handle all the data that would come with an iPhone on their network?