Boost simplifies rate plans

Highlighting the increasingly competitive nature of the prepaid market, Sprint’s Boost Mobile division unveiled new rate plans dubbed “Monthly Unlimited Select” that do away with different pricing levels depending on the device selected.
The new plans are priced at $40, $50 and $60 per month depending on the amount of un-throttled data included, with all plans including unlimited domestic voice calling and messaging. Data buckets range from 500 megabytes, to 2.5 gigabytes and topping out at 5 GB before speeds are throttled down to 2G speeds on Sprint’s CDMA2000 1x network.
The new plans will be offered alongside Boost’s signature “Shrinking Payments” plans that drop $5 per month for every six months that a customer makes on-time payments. Those plans will also remain priced at different tiers depending on the device selected: the BlackBerry Curve 9310 without traditional data is priced at $45 per month; feature phones at $50 per month; smartphones at $55 per month; and the BlackBerry Curve 9310 with unlimited data at $60 per month. All of those plans throttle data speeds at the 2.5 GB mark.
Sprint last week posted first quarter financial results that showed a significant turnaround in its prepaid fortunes as its direct prepaid business, which posted a loss of 363,000 customers compared with a gain of 568,000 customers during the first quarter of 2013. Sprint’s direct prepaid business includes Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Sprint Prepaid and Assurance Wireless.
Sprint rival T-Mobile US showed considerable progress in its prepaid efforts during the first quarter, adding 465,000 no-contract subscribers boosted by the acquisition and recent expansion of its MetroPCS operations. AT&T Mobility, which posted smaller prepaid net losses for the first quarter, is expected to more aggressively target the space following the recent acquisition of Leap Wireless.
Sprint in March revamped its branded Prepaid offer, replacing its previous “As You Go” service with lower priced rate plans. The offering now includes 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 Assurance offer, which is backed by the federal government’s Lifeline program, has been under pressure to clear out old or potential fraud accounts. The Federal Communications Commission has been fining firms for Lifeline violations, though Sprint has not been part of those actions.
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