Sprint is the newest name in pag ing. Sound familiar?
Yes, well that’s the idea. Through a reseller agreement be tween Sprint Telecommunica tions Venture and Paging Net work Inc., Sprint Corp. plans to sell PageNet’s services to its long-distance customers and others.
The deal allows Sprint to capital ize on the expertise of a proven paging industry giant, while PageNet can take advantage of Sprint’s marketing clout and established gateway to the consumer market.
Service will begin next month, said Sprint, which is targeting customers that desire paging ser vice for family-oriented purposes. The company will bill its Sprint Paging services at a flat-rate, cor responding with its Sprint Sense residential long-distance calling plan.
“We’ve found that consumers like having a clear, bottom-line price for communications,” said Jerry Rhodes, vice president mar keting for Sprint’s Consumer Services Group. Although Sprint alone is kicking off paging services, the reselling agwireless and other telecommunications services. Other companies are likely to follow suit.
PageNet’s Dallas headquarters, equipped with a national customer support center, is geared to provide end-to-end paging services. Particulars will vary among reseller agreements, said Baradell. In the Sprint deal, PageNet will provide billing, full-scale customer service and fulfillment-the distribution of paging units-in addition to paging service. Customers calling Sprint’s toll-free number actually will reach PageNet’s customer service unit. Sprint needs only to market the service, an area it is acquainted with.
PageNet has experienced tremendous success accessing customers through direct sales and private resellers. But the Sprint deal, and a similar agreement with MCI Communications Corp., just may deliver “Joe Consumer” on a silver platter. By marketing service through a long-distance carrier, potential customers don’t need to make any effort to get a pager. It finds them through the mail, coming from a name they already trust.
Plus, despite recent excitement about reaching consumers through retail, PageNet noted drawbacks in this area. Service providers can lose money on the front end, Baradell said, because some retailers require deep discounts. Profit may not be realized until customers have used their pager several months. The highest rate of service disconnection exists in retail, he added.
Sprint Paging will supply paging units by Motorola Inc. and offer numeric and alphanumeric capabilities, voice mail and personalized greetings.
