Topics for this week’s Carrier Wrap include dissecting the ongoing Sprint and T-Mobile battle, and tips for IoT
On this week’s “Carrier Wrap,” RCR Wireless News Editor-in-Chief Dan Meyer and Managing Editor Sean Kinney dig into the ongoing marketing battle between Sprint and T-Mobile US as the holiday shopping season gets into full swing.
The battle between the nation’s No. 3 and No. 4 carriers kicked into high gear late last month as Sprint announced a limited-time promotion for customers porting their number over from any of its larger rivals of a 50% savings on their current rate plan. The promotion, which began Nov. 20 and runs through Jan. 7, requires customers to port their number from one of the carrier’s nationwide rivals with the promise of a 50% savings on their monthly bill. Sprint notes the offer is valid for “most plans” with the discounted plan available through Jan. 8, 2018. The 50% discount also applies to per-device access fees on data buckets.
The offering was similar to one offered by Sprint last year, though this time it added T-Mobile US to the mix. That inclusion ruffled the feathers of T-Mobile US CEO John Legere, who took to social media to question the real value of Sprint’s offer.
Sprint then took a page from T-Mobile US’ publicity team and hired an airplane to fly over T-Mobile US’ headquarters towing a Sprint banner.
T-Mobile US countered the airplane move by offering Sprint customers an additional $200 to switch their allegiance as part of a broader marketing plan it said will also target larger rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility. T-Mobile US also countered the Sprint 50% off promotion by providing all of its smartphone customers with three months of unlimited data at no additional charge.
With three weeks to go before Christmas, we suspect there could still be a few more marketing moves left to make.
Carrier IoT tips
The “Internet of Things” remains a nascent arm of operations for most mobile carriers, with current support limited to basic machine-to-machine and connected car applications. However, with forecasts of tens of billions of devices to eventually be connected to the Internet via wireless technology, cellular carriers are increasingly having to focus their future efforts on how to tackle the market.
Steve Hilton, industry analyst at MachNation, joined the show to provide his insight into the current IoT space, how carriers have approached the market and what they can do to improve their support of IoT services.
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