1. Sprint named a new CMO and a new president for one of its four national regions. Roger Solé will replace Kevin Crull as the carrier’s CMO and Crull will now head up the Central region. Sprint said Crull will be responsible for sales strategy and execution, network oversight, customer service, marketing communications and general operations across 14 central states as well as West Pennsylvania.
Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure is restructuring the company into four geographic areas: West, Central, Northeast and South. As president of the Central region, Crull will have responsibility for Kansas City, Sprint’s headquarters, as well as for Chicago, Indianapolis and Minneapolis.
Roger Solé is currently a SVP at Sprint and has focused on expanding the carrier’s presence in the Hispanic market. Solé is also credited with launching Sprint’s Switch and Save 50% promotion, its $1 iPhone promotion and Sprint Open World.
2. Google Fiber wants to light up Los Angeles and Chicago, but parent company Alphabet is saying both cities need to first provide information about existing infrastructure. Google Fiber offers gigabit-per-second broadband speeds, and is currently live in Austin, Texas; Provo, Utah; and Kansas City. The addition of Los Angeles and Chicago brings the total number of markets Google is targeting to 18. Companies that build and maintain telecom infrastructure say business tends to pick up when Google enters a market because incumbent providers want to increase their capabilities in order to stay competitive. AT&T became more aggressive in its fiber builds after the launch of Google Fiber. Just this week AT&T said it will bring its GigaPower high-speed fiber to more than 30 new markets.
3. Google Wallet will soon let users text money to their contacts. The update to the Google Wallet app will reportedly allow users to select an amount of money to send and then text a contact a secure website address. The link will take the payee to a page on which that person will enter debit card info to collect the money.
4. Wal-Mart is launching its own mobile payments service. The app will work on Apple iOS and Google Android devices, and will support most major credit and debit cards. Wal-Mart’s announcement is bad news for Current C, the mobile payments platform developed by a consortium of retailers that included Wal-Mart. That partnership is fraying as many member retailers decide to accept Apple Pay or Google Wallet.
5. T-Mobile US produced what may be its most creative advertising to date around the “Un-carrier” campaign. Whether or not you’re a fan of T-Mobile US’ tactics, this video will probably make you smile. The lyrical attack on its rivals comes on the heels of T-Mobile US’ targeted promotions, which offer distinct incentives to customers of Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and Sprint.
