Analyst: ‘Don’t get too excited’ about new PTT pricing from Sprint Nextel: Wireless provider reworks Nextel Direct Connect rate plans

Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced new rate plans for its Nextel Direct Connect customers, starting at $30 a month. The carrier said it launched two new Direct Connect plans aimed at business customers who were previously forced to bundle voice minutes along with Direct Connect usage, which the carrier said often left them paying for unused features.
The first new plan option, Unlimited Workgroup Communications, includes unlimited direct connect and group connect, unlimited text messaging, mobile-to-mobile minutes and night and weekend minutes starting at 9 p.m. for $30 a month per line.
The new Web & Navigation plan includes the same features, plus unlimited data, Web browsing and GPS navigation for $40 a month per line. This plan is also available to customers with PowerSource and Direct Connect capable Sprint phones, for $50 a month. Customers can add sharable pooled voice minutes to each plan; 500 minutes for $30 a month per line or 2,000 minutes for $100 a month per line.
The new offerings are in addition to Sprint Nextel’s established PTT options, either as a $10 add-on feature to any plan or as part of the carrier’s Simply Everything and Sprint Business Essentials plans. The Business Essentials plans include unlimited Direct Connect and range from $40 to $200 a month with accompanying anytime minutes bundles. Simply Everything provides unlimited Direct Connect as one of its unlimited features; the plan costs $100 per month.
The new Direct Connect plans currently are only available to business-liable customers with Direct Connect-capable phones. However, consumers and individual account holders will have access to the custom plans at an unnamed point in the future, Sprint Nextel said.
Walter Piecyk, of Pali Research, said that even though this is a step forward for the carrier, it will not result in any drastic benefits.
“It should help them target the push-to-talk (PTT) more precisely but frankly should not have a major impact on their gross additions,” Piecyk said. “In the past, post paid users had to bundle telephone minutes. But don’t get too excited thinking this is a price cut. Boost users could already get unlimited PTT for $1 per day.”
Boost Mobile, Sprint’s pre-paid division, also recently announced its $50 a month unlimited plan, which includes unlimited walkie-talkie services.