Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is testing a rate plan in select markets that allows customers to place unlimited calls to AT&T Inc. wireline customers for a flat monthly fee. AT&T, which recently changed its name from SBC Communications Inc. following SBC’s $16 billion acquisition of AT&T Corp., owns 60 percent of Cingular.
The plan, dubbed Mobile2Home, is being tested through Feb. 25 in Connecticut, and requires local AT&T subscribers to bundle their Cingular service on a single bill. The unlimited calling feature costs $6 per month.
A number of regional Bell operating companies offer similar services, including Qwest Communications International Inc., which offers wireless service using Sprint Nextel Corp.’s CDMA network.
Analysts note these bundled offerings are designed to reduce customer churn and are another step in the convergence between wireline and wireless services.
“We believe (this) announcement sets a precedent as carriers look to converge their fixed and mobile networks,” noted Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. telecommunications analyst Mike McCormack. “We expect convergence to evolve into integrated Wi-Fi/cellular phones, shared wireline/wireless minutes, integrated messaging and other services.”
Cingular announced an agreement in 2003 with its parent companies SBC and BellSouth Corp. to begin offering residential customers a shared bucket of minutes for calls made from either their SBC or BellSouth wireline calling plans and Cingular wireless calling plans.
On a larger scale, Cingular last week reported an agreement with European operator Orange SA to offer consolidated mobile services to multinational companies in the United States and Europe.
Under the arrangement, Cingular and Orange customers with operations in the United States, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland can manage their combined Cingular and Orange wireless use through a secure online portal, called WorldView Wireless Information Navigator. The site is available to Cingular’s WorldView international roaming customers.
The plan also allows Cingular customers signed up for its Cingular Corporate Digital Advantage to apply Orange minutes to their Cingular account to qualify for volume discounts.
Cingular and Orange account representatives also will work to offer one point of contact to customers’ trans-Atlantic purchase requests and major bids.
Research firm Ovum noted the deal targets U.S.-based multinational companies using Cingular service domestically, but that also conduct business in Europe. Cingular also has alliances for its WorldView program with other carriers in Austria, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland.
Others noted that while the deal will help enterprise customers manage their wireless accounts, the deal leaves a lot on the table. “Although the benefits of having a uniform GSM technology across networks is enviable-at least from the perspective of the U.S. CDMA carriers who struggle to provide international data roaming services that are not more trouble than they’re worth-Orange and Cingular are not actually leveraging this asset,” noted Current Analysis senior wireless analyst Michael Ransom.
