Sprint Nextel adds twist to calling circles: New voice offering targets data

That didn’t take long. A day after AT&T Mobility threw its hat into the calling circle ring Sprint Nextel Corp. unveiled its unlimited off-network calling feature. Though, as has become expected from the nation’s No. 3 operator, there was a twist.
Sprint Nextel’s Any Mobile, Anytime plan allows customers to make unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls to any other wireless network as long as the calls are not made while roaming. Calls to landline phones are still charged against a customer’s calling plan. Sprint Nextel is also not charging for the feature as long as customers are on one of its Everything Data individual plan starting at $70 per month or family plans starting at $130 per month. (Current customers on qualifying plans will have the feature added at no charge on their next billing cycle.)
Sprint Nextel’s foray into the space differs from its competition that has relied on allowing customers to make unlimited off-network calls to a select number of phones regardless of whether they are wired or wireless. For example, AT&T Mobility’s offering announced yesterday, and set to launch on Sept. 20, allows individual line customers to call five numbers and family plan customers to call 10 numbers regardless of whether they are wireline or wireless without digging into their bucket of minutes. The carrier does limit the offering to individual lines beginning at $60 per month and family plans beginning at $90 per month.
AT&T Mobility’s plan is almost identical to Verizon Wireless’ Friends & Family offering, which it inherited when it acquired Alltel Communications L.L.C. T-Mobile USA Inc.’s myFaves plans is slightly different as the carrier charges a $10 per month premium for the feature. And unlike Sprint Nextel’s plan, these features are not tied to a carrier’s data services.
Current Analysis telecom analyst Bill Ho noted Sprint Nextel’s twist on the model highlights the carrier’s continued attempts to get customers to sign on for its data packages, which Ho said are actually a pretty good deal relative to the competition.
“Sprint is definitely targeting those strictly voice and messaging customers that are on the fence as to whether they should sign up for data services,” Ho said. “This new offering combined with the data-centric devices Sprint has in its lineup and is ready to roll out is a compelling offer to consumers and a smart move by Sprint to try to get those customers to move up to their data packages.”
Ho also said Sprint Nextel’s offering is another positive attempt by the carrier to try and stop the defection of its CDMA customers that has resulted in quarter after quarter of net customer losses for the carrier.
As for timing, the latest rate plan additions as well as the flurry of new handset launches shows that carriers are bolstering their line ups for the all important holiday shopping season that officially gets underway the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, but unofficially starts as early as October.
“It’s all about generating buzz in the minds of consumers,” Ho explained. “It seems that this year more so than in recent years is an important time for carriers to make a splash and try to gain new customers at the expense of their competitors.”