Forget about Sprint family plans¦Introducing the “Framily” plan!

Sprint has a new $25 smartphone offer for large groups of family and friends, but they’re overthinking how they make you get to that low price.

The telecom company has introduced what it’s calling the no contract ‘Framily’ plan”¦just when you thought you might get through the first full week of 2014 without another cute portmanteau word being added to your vocabulary!

The Sprint Framily plan requires you to come up with a minimum of 7 people and a maximum of 10 to get started. Once you’ve pieced together your posse, you get access to group buying power.

Everybody on the plan gets $25 a month unlimited talk, text, and 1 GB of data with no contract. Each account is billed separately, but you have to identify 1 person who agrees to be financially responsible if somebody doesn’t pay as agreed.

And if someone among you wants unlimited data instead of just 1 GB, their bill jumps from $25 to $45 for that person only. (1 GB of data is what the average smartphone user consumes each month.)

Though 7 is optimal for savings, customers can still realize savings with 2’6 members vs. a traditional Sprint plan.

It’s a neat idea, but it’s a very complicated premise. If you’re chasing a $25 a month price point, why not just do Republic Wireless? They offer unlimited talk, text, and data for $25 a month with no hoops to jump through. See my review of Republic Wireless and the Moto X phone.

One thing’s for sure: The era of paying $100 a month for a cellphone plan is so over. The marketplace has changed. Today’s rates are half of what prevailing rates were 18 months ago.

For further reading:

• Best family plan for cell phones
• Get the most money for your old cellphone
• Clark’s review of Republic Wireless