TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Sprint Adds Some Flexibility to Service Contracts


Sprint Adds Some Flexibility to Service Contracts


Sinead Carew, Reuters (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:19:21 -0500

By Sinead Carew
Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Sprint Nextel Corp. (S.N) said on Tuesday it
would let customers change rate plans over the first six months of a
contract without having to sign a new one, as the No. 3 U.S. wireless
service provider looks to attract new customers and keep existing
ones.

U.S. wireless carriers typically make subscribers, who commit to one-
or two-year contracts, start a new contract if they want to change
rate plans, except during the first month when customers can typically
end service without paying a fee.

Sprint, which aims to boost subscriber growth after several
disappointing quarters, had previously allowed customers to change
plans without a new contract in the first three months.

U.S. mobile service providers, struggling to add customers in a market
where most people already own cell phones, tend to try to keep
customers as long as possible by charging fees of as much as $200 if
they leave a contract early.

Sprint said it was common for customers to want to change their plan
before their contract expires.

Its latest move comes less than a fortnight before Sprint's biggest
rival, AT&T Inc. (T.N), exclusively starts to sell the widely
anticipated iPhone, Apple Inc.'s (AAPL.O) first cell phone which has a
built-in music and video player.

Some analysts had said Sprint could have the most to lose if the
iPhone is a success because its customers typically like advanced data
services such as music and video.

AT&T said it "generally" lets users change service plans during a
contract without signing a new one. Smaller rival Alltel Corp. offers
a 15-day trial for a contract and said customers can change plans any
time without extending it.

No. 2 U.S. mobile provider Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon
Communications Inc. (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L), asks
customers to sign a new contract if they want to change service plans
after a 30-day grace period.

Copyright 2007 Reuters

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or)
http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

For more news and headlines, please go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: Raqueeb Hassan: "Help Setting Up a VoIP Regulatory Framework"
Go to Previous message: John Levine: "Re: Phone Multiplexer Failures, Power Outages, and Firewall Problems"
Next in thread: Mr Joseph Singer: "Re: Sprint Adds Some Flexibility to Service Contracts"
May be reply: Mr Joseph Singer: "Re: Sprint Adds Some Flexibility to Service Contracts"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page