Sprint to Cover iPhone on TEP Starting January 25th

Internal Sprint documentation has confirmed that the carrier will allow the iPhone onto its Total Equipment Protection program starting on Friday January 25th for new iPhone activations on that date forward and older devices activated up to a month before the date.

The fee on top of the monthly rate will be $11 per month, with the usual protections found in the TEP program such as coverage for accidental loss, damage and theft, though the deductible will be spit into two tiers: one deductible of $150 for devices with pricing between $549-599 and a $200 deductible for devices priced over $600.

While the move to cover the iPhone isn’t completely unexpected, given that Sprint has held off on expanding the program until it could figure out a way to balance coverage levels and costs, the fact that it is disallowing previous purchases out of the 30-day window is interesting, as it implies that it only wants to start with the most recently sold devices first and might be considering an open enrollment period in the future for all devices.

Previous to the iPhone being offered on TEP, the only way for a customer to cover an iPhone from accidental damage was by purchasing AppleCare+, with no additional loss and theft protections being afforded unless third-party insurance coverage was purchased.