Carriers toy with packages to spur data uptake

As carriers tempt customers to move into data services beyond text messaging, some of them are designing service or accessory packages that specifically appeal to how different types of customers will make use of their phones.
Sprint Nextel Corp. recently introduced a new series of segmented data packages, offering various options at similar or equal price points in order to appeal to different categories of customers. The carrier is offering six different CDMA-based data packages, dubbed Vision Packs. They include packages that focus on navigation, music, television, as well as expanding the carrier’s basic Vision offering while retaining the same price points as it previously offered.
Current Vision customers will not see a change in their bills, according to Sprint Nextel spokeswoman Emmy Anderson-but they’ll have access to 99-cent music downloads and $3 per-day use of the carrier’s turn-by-turn GPS navigation service.
“We’re looking for new ways to encourage customers to use data in a way that’s really relevant to them,” said Anderson. Dividing data products into service-specific packs helped customers decide which is best for them, she added. In-store kiosks are set to help educate customers about their options, and the packs are detailed on the carrier’s Web site.
Sprint Nextel kept its basic price points of $15, $20 and $25 per month for data packages, but changed the $20 price point from simply an enhanced general data package to the service-specific packages for music, television and navigation. The two $25 options include a “premiere” package that essentially includes all of its services; and a business-focused data pack that includes navigation.
The music package includes the basic data offering plus 50 streaming audio stations (previously the carrier only offered access to 10 channels) and a music video channel. The navigation pack tacks on unlimited use of the GPS navigation application to the basic option, and the television package includes an extra 20 channels on top of the basic entertainment package. (Sprint Nextel relies on a combination of clips and streaming video for its TV offering.)
AT&T Inc.’s wireless unit is exploring packaging online, with more than a dozen different offerings that include handsets and 16 accessory bundles offered on its Web site. Some of the packages are unsurprising, such as rolling together a free phone case with a vehicle charger and a Bluetooth headset. However, the carrier also is bundling data plans for music lovers with devices such as the Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Blackjack and Sync, and includes a one-year subscription to Napster-to-Go and a rate plan, along with a 1 gigabyte memory card.
AT&T also offers bundles aimed at international travelers, executives or those looking for road-side assistance.
Verizon Wireless offers a “Music Essentials” accessory kit to appeal to the audiophiles in its customer base, and recently added a new tier of voice plans with unlimited messaging.
Customers “want the service. They don’t want to worry about the cost and they don’t want to be surprised,” said Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Brenda Raney. “The reality is that messaging is a part of our lifestyle now.” Customers, she noted, don’t usually differentiate between data and voice services.
“When you give someone unlimited messaging, they’re not thinking about [it being] a data plan,” Raney said. “They’re thinking about the message, and that’s what they’re buying.”