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Opinions SOMM Blogs Electronics Sprint is changing the game; again
Opinions SOMM Blogs Electronics Sprint is changing the game; again
Sprint is changing the game; again
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10 September 2009
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Electronics
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This blog entry is going to sound a bit like viral advertising and I assure you it is not. Over the last couple years, Sprint Nextel has improved drastically. From the awesome customer service follow-ups, to its Simply Everything plan, the Sprint of yesteryears has disappeared. The trouble is that old customers along with people who like to gossip, Sprint’s bad reputation as a “sucky” wireless company remains with them till this day. What Sprint is (or is about to) offering may very well change the wireless industry once again.
When Sprint introduced the Simply Everything Unlimited plan for $99.99, it made a lot of the other wireless companies take notice. For a lot of customers, it was too late; they switched to another wireless carrier. I, myself, was on the verge of leaving Sprint for what I thought at the time was a superior company in Verizon. Even though I never had a problem with Sprint’s customer service (I rarely ever needed to call them) or trouble with their service (I rarely ever get drop calls or missing text messages), my problem was with their selection of phones. I decided to stick around when I was able to get my hands on the Blackberry 8330 about a year and a half ago. I’m glad I did.
While Sprint wasn’t the first to offer unlimited minutes, I believe they changed the cellular climate with the introduction of the Simply Everything plan. With this plan, you get unlimited data, text messages, MMS, GPS and of course, minutes. This plan even includes Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) which is a requirement by RIM for free. Similar plans on Verizon and AT&T cost well over $160 for a Blackberry and they still aren’t as “unlimited” as the Sprint’s Simply Everything plan truly is.
I took a headfirst plunge into the Simply Everything plan but I quickly realized that even though I had unlimited everything, my friends, family and business associates with other wireless carriers did not. I downgraded my plan to the Simply Everything 450 plan, since I never used more than 400 anytime minutes each month, which cost $69.99 per month. Factor in my corporate discount and I only pay $58 each month (excluding phone insurance, taxes and fees).
Four days ago, I received an e-mail from Sprint. I am a Sprint Premier customer (means I’m a loyal customer) and I receive a lot of extra benefits, one of which is receiving exclusive information about services, phones and other things before other Sprint customers. The first e-mail gave me a head’s up about a new plan feature that was coming and it would be revealed the following morning. The next day, I received another e-mail about the new Any Mobile, Anytime plan addition. I thought about it and realized the implications. Sprint in a way, was offering “unlimited” minutes for my plan and it is a completely free addition.
The Any Mobile, Anytime plan feature gives any customer with the Simply Everything Data plan (which I have) FREE calls to any Mobile phone in the USA. Doesn’t matter about the wireless carrier, if it is a mobile phone, the call is free. According to the e-mail, there are over 250 million wireless customers in the USA and I could call any of them for free.