In a move to bolster its presence in the white-hot prepaid space, Sprint today revamped its branded no-contract service with flat-rate plans that could step on the toes of its other offerings.
The offering, dubbed Sprint Prepaid, will replace its previously offered “As You Go” service with lower priced rate plans. The new offer will join Sprint’s other no-contract offerings in the Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile and Assurance Wireless.
The new Prepaid offering will include two smartphone options beginning at $45 per month for unlimited domestic voice calling, text messaging and data only via a Wi-Fi connection, no cellular data. For $60 per month, Prepaid customers will have 2.5 gigabytes of LTE data before speeds are throttled, though any video streaming will be 3G only. All cellular services will be limited to Sprint’s native network, though the service can tap into Sprint’s Spark offering where available and with a compatible device.
Feature phones will also have a pair of options beginning at $35 per month for 500 calling minutes, and unlimited text messaging and data; and $50 per month for unlimited voice calling.
Sprint’s previous “As You Go” plans began at $50 per month for a feature phone or $70 for a smartphone that included unlimited domestic voice calling, text messaging, 3G data and 2G data roaming.
The initial range of devices supplied with the service includes the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy S3, the Motorola Moto G and pre-owned Apple iPhone 4S. Customers signing up for the service will be able to participate in Sprint’s Buyback program which allows them to trade in an eligible device to earn account credits.
Sprint acknowledges the new offering is similar to its Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile services, which also provide flat-rate, no-contract services. Virgin Mobile plans range from $35 to $55 per month, with all providing 2.5 GB of LTE data, video-streaming limited to 3G speeds, unlimited messaging and voice calling ranging from 300 minutes to unlimited. Boost Mobile’s flat-rate plans range from $45 to $60 per month depending on device, providing unlimited domestic voice calling, messaging and 2.5 GB of the fastest data the device can handle. The Boost Mobile plans do drop by $5 per month for every six month period a customer makes on-time payments.
Sizing them up alongside the Sprint Prepaid plan shows that both Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile are slightly cheaper when their smartphone plans are compared directly, with Boost becoming significantly cheaper for customers making on-time payments. The Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile brands also have access to greater selection of devices, though the Sprint Prepaid device pricing is a bit lower.
Sprint’s move comes a day after AT&T announced it had closed on its acquisition of Leap Wireless, with plans to more aggressively target the no-contract space. Sprint remains heavily reliant on its no-contract brands, with its cadre of brands managing to lose only 145,000 customers in 2013 compared with a loss of more than 2.2 million contract customers.
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