Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

[cletus]

I'd really love if any people who work at a sprint store could talk about how they are going to do this.

 

Are they going to create rate plans in $5 increments?

 

This seems like it is ripe for fraud, abuse, confusion, and a bunch of other things - anyone that can help clarify how this "half price" promotion will work - it would be awesome.

 

I like the new plan idea, it's innovative but seems like a back-end nightmare.

Well, 

they do have the $200 fee if you don't return your phone (a Brightstar/Marcelo idea for sure) to make it less attractive to people signing up for a bit at AT&T and then dumping the contract by taking Sprint's ETF and selling the phones. It is sure open for abuse but most of these ETF payout plans are exploitable in some way or another. I like the waived fees with full device purchase. Puts them ahead of the game after the ETF payout, smart.

 

Also, this does NOT include additional employer discounts if I read the FAQ correctly:

Will the discount include my NVP?

• The Cut Your Bill in Half Event is calculated off of your net total competitor talk, text and data charges which will include your NVP discount.
• Additional NVP discounts through Sprint will not be awarded.
• The Sprint Half Price plans are only eligible for Consumer accounts

 

Anyways, I think this is pretty clever myself and provided people can't stack employer discounts it should mostly amount to reasonable rates in comparison to what current new customers like myself can get. I pay $77 before taxes for 20GB +2GB per line for 2 lines under Sprint Family Shared so if someone comes in and pays $60-70 then why would I care? They have to buy brand new phones so their bill would be more than mine anyways.

 

FWIW in regard to credit scores etc.. Sprint will be going after higher credit score customers with this promotion. AT&T and Verizon have the best overall customer portfolios in the industry and this also makes sense why T-Mobile was NOT included!

[S4GRU]

Well, 

they do have the $200 fee if you don't return your phone (a Brightstar/Marcelo idea for sure) to make it less attractive to people signing up for a bit at AT&T and then dumping the contract by taking Sprint's ETF and selling the phones. It is sure open for abuse but most of these ETF payout plans are exploitable in some way or another. I like the waived fees with full device purchase. Puts them ahead of the game after the ETF payout, smart.

 

Also, this does NOT include additional employer discounts if I read the FAQ correctly:

Will the discount include my NVP?

• The Cut Your Bill in Half Event is calculated off of your net total competitor talk, text and data charges which will include your NVP discount.
• Additional NVP discounts through Sprint will not be awarded.
• The Sprint Half Price plans are only eligible for Consumer accounts

 

Anyways, I think this is pretty clever myself and provided people can't stack employer discounts it should mostly amount to reasonable rates in comparison to what current new customers like myself can get. I pay $77 before taxes for 20GB +2GB per line for 2 lines under Sprint Family Shared so if someone comes in and pays $60-70 then why would I care? They have to buy brand new phones so their bill would be more than mine anyways.

 

FWIW in regard to credit scores etc.. Sprint will be going after higher credit score customers with this promotion. AT&T and Verizon have the best overall customer portfolios in the industry and this also makes sense why T-Mobile was NOT included!

 

Always appreciate your plan breakdowns.  You have become the de facto expert on Sprint plan comparisons.  

 

I'm actually surprised they are honoring the employer discounts and doing 50% off including the existing discounts as they are at AT&T and Verizon.  Some people will make out well if their employer has a really good siscount at AT&T or Verizon, but it is lower or nonexistent at Sprint.

[maxsilver]

AT&T and Verizon have the best overall customer portfolios in the industry and this also makes sense why T-Mobile was NOT included!

 

I'm guessing it has nothing to do with their customer portfolio, and everything to do with T-Mobile's pricing.

 

T-Mobile has a $45/month 2GB single line plan. Not a special deal, not discounted, fully postpaid. For Sprint to match that with their promo here, they'd have to be willing to sign up $23/month 2GB individual lines (plus EIP).  Plus, you know, eating the $650-ish ETF+EIP fees. Which would take 2.5 to 3 years just to break even on.

 

I'm guessing stuff like that isn't sounding attractive.

[S4GRU]

I'm guessing it has nothing to do with their customer portfolio, and everything to do with T-Mobile's pricing.

 

T-Mobile has a $45/month 2GB single line plan. Not a special deal, not discounted, fully postpaid. For Sprint to match that with their promo here, they'd have to be willing to sign up $23/month 2GB individual lines (plus EIP).  

 

Yeah, trying to do half of Tmo plans would not be financially lucrative.  Although cletus' point is valid that AT&T and VZW are likely more attractive customers on average, I don't see how they could do 50% off Tmo plans as you point out.  Although, I could never have imagined Sprint having 50% off AT&T and VZW plans just six months ago.

[cletus]

I'm guessing it has nothing to do with their customer portfolio, and everything to do with T-Mobile's pricing.

 

T-Mobile has a $45/month 2GB single line plan. Not a special deal, not discounted, fully postpaid. For Sprint to match that with their promo here, they'd have to be willing to sign up $23/month 2GB individual lines (plus EIP).  Plus, you know, eating the $650-ish ETF+EIP fees. Which would take 2.5 to 3 years just to break even on.

 

I'm guessing stuff like that isn't sounding attractive.

I dunno, Sprint had $25/ 1 GB plans under Framily and they seemed okay with that price point. With T-Mobile they wouldn't be paying the ETF fees actually since there is no ETF, only phone payments. 

 

Edit: so even at $23 the new customer would be paying like $23+27 for a phone or $23 + $650 upfront.

Edit#2: is the quote code breaking for anyone else? I keep seeing t-quote name "blah" etc when I view threads here over the last 2 hours or so.

[orangeblue]

Yeah, trying to do half of Tmo plans would not be financially lucrative.  Although cletus' point is valid that AT&T and VZW are likely more attractive customers on average, I don't see how they could do 50% off Tmo plans as you point out.  Although, I could never have imagined Sprint having 50% off AT&T and VZW plans just six months ago.

 

Well Verizon might have issues keeping some of their customers happy because their LTE network is getting slower by the day. Not only do I see phone more and more in 3G rather than 4G because the sites are full, but LTE speeds are down. XLTE seems so spotty and makes look WiMax good in terms of coverage.

 

Btw. I have not found one XTLE site in Las Vegas on my last visit a week ago despite their claim of XLTE coverage

[anthony.spina97]

If you are that hungry, go eat an Apple. I hope that it has a worm inside.

 

AJ

I hear worms taste like chicken. Thanks for the recommendation

 

-Anthony

[JonnygATL]

Oh Yes, I have beat that same drum right here.... Cell Phone Bills are too damn high, its one reason TMO turn has been so successful, they hit the pulse of America wallets at exactly the right time.... But TMO built excellent Marketing Branding message to go along with that.

 

I don't think there's one person in America who doesn't understand what "Uncarrier" is.

 

I know you're tired of hearing me say this, but it is so pertinent to this conversation. Sprint needs a message to go along with these Gimmicks, by themselves they won't do much. Are people are tired of paying Verizon and ATT prices, YES!, but they also don't trust Sprint, or they believe the Bad/Negative stereotype of "Sprint Sucks"... TMO brand wasn't nearly as badly damage as Sprint is most people never had an opinion of TMO it was just that small 4th place "city" carrier. The Sprint brand has some Real Haters out there, Ex Sprint Users, Tech Blogs, Media, hell even Sprint's own community forums etc, are all actively Negative on Sprint... and this is what those same customers that Sprint is chasing down with this gimmick sees and reads all day everyday. As a matter of fact the only place out there to really countering that right now is S4GRU... Think about that, the ONLY place that tries to give Sprint a fair shot against all the Hatred Noise.

True. T-Mobile has done an EXCELLENT job in its marketing the past few years. Absolutely fantastic ads and branding, to the point it is already being discussed in college classrooms. I hope Sprint can pull off something even half as successful. I truly do!

[jamesinclair]

This popped up on my news feed. Pay attention to the date. Is Sprint being extra generous...or did a sloppy mistake open them up to serious issues next month?

 

[cletus]

This popped up on my news feed. Pay attention to the date. Is Sprint being extra generous...or did a sloppy mistake open them up to serious issues next month?

 

*snip*

This is the 500 mins/mo calling to mexico for free until 12/31/2015 and then $5 after promotion. Most of the current promotions with family share etc end on 12/31/2015.

[jamisonshaw125]

Lol at S.Ali's comment on fierce wireless. What a troll. 

[Ascertion]

Lol at S.Ali's comment on fierce wireless. What a troll.

S.Ali is just a moron. Supposedly his opinioned "facts" are truth and others that are Magenta fanboys upvote him.

 

He spews nonsense about throttled speeds on Sprint when T-Mobile does it far more often and often tricking the users by showing unthrottled speeds on speed tests. I can't speak for everyone, but when I talk to anyone on T-Mobile here in Jacksonville, their voice quality is terrible and they're the ones that drop calls. I have only dropped maybe 2 calls total owning this G2 since last November. I get 3G often but it's still better than T-Mobile Edge or no signal in certain areas...Lol.

 

Then when Sprint tries to offer value with price reductions. He stomps on it and spouts the nonsense about how Sprint is negligent and abusing their customers by not offering value.

 

If you ask me, he's in denial regarding T-Mobile's faults and will try to cover it up by bashing on Sprint.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

[jamesinclair]

This is the 500 mins/mo calling to mexico for free until 12/31/2015 and then $5 after promotion. Most of the current promotions with family share etc end on 12/31/2015.

 

I could have sworn the promo ended this month, not in a year

[caspar347]

Lol at S.Ali's comment on fierce wireless. What a troll. 

That website's comment sections are just toxic. Is Fierce ever going to do anything about it?

[jamisonshaw125]

That website's comment sections are just toxic. Is Fierce ever going to do anything about it?

Nope. The articles are nice, but I get to involved in the comments so I really don't even read their articles at all anymore. Wonder if their site visits have decreased since the trolls, S. Ali, Fabian, jacky (the idiot), and Doug LTE, and any of the others have taken over the comment section of any article related to sprint. 

[Rawvega]

Nope. The articles are nice, but I get to involved in the comments so I really don't even read their articles at all anymore. Wonder if their site visits have decreased since the trolls, S. Ali, Fabian, jacky (the idiot), and Doug LTE, and any of the others have taken over the comment section of any article related to sprint. 

 

Yep the articles are just fine, but I can't get involved with those jokers in the comments because, well...

 

[menecer]

Even on non sprint articles they manage to bring up sprint and bash them.

[greencat]

Not exactly Marcelo related, but Sprint's CFO and an exec from SoftBank are giving a presentation at a financial conference today.  The audio stream is available here: http://www.veracast.com/webcasts/baml/levfin2014/id59111313956.cfm

 

Highlights so far:

 

• 800 LTE finished by end of next year

That was it.  Nothing really interesting. For anybody interested the audio recording should be available later. 

 

Another year to put in carrier cards seems extreme. The equipment should already be at the site. If they're still having backhaul issues that's pretty bad. Unless this is including areas like Florida where they're having so much trouble with the govts moving off the signal...

[lilotimz]

Another year to put in carrier cards seems extreme. The equipment should already be at the site. If they're still having backhaul issues that's pretty bad. Unless this is including areas like Florida where they're having so much trouble with the govts moving off the signal...

 

These includes areas where public safety has still not migrated off eSMR like San Bernardino County (cockblocks southern nevada (includes las vegas) and southern california (entirety of los angeles and surrounding areas outside ibez all the way up to nearly bakersfield), parts of san antonio area, florida, and probably a few other areas as well. 

 

A lot of regions didn't even start being deployed until very recently like northern california/nevada because Sprint had to file and get approval from the FCC to deploy eSMR 800 LTE in areas that surround said public safety organizations but are not in range of said area that Sprint having service will affect them. 

 

The Great Purge of late 2014 by Marcelo and Son also may affect things.

[greencat]

You said it much better than I did. Much more understandable if those areas are the only holdouts.

[gnoj]

1x800 complete by end of year? Poor eastern Iowa and western Pennsylvania, never to see it. Or Sprint is going to mobilize fast, lol.

If the CFO really said that 800 voice would be finished by year's end, then he's lying. Even putting aside the geographical restrictions from the IBEZ & PS that most investors should know about, you are absolutely right to point out the large number of GMOs that still need to be converted to full builds. That's just not going to happen in the four weeks left in 2014.

[marioc21]

If the CFO really said that 800 voice would be finished by year's end, then he's lying. Even putting aside the geographical restrictions from the IBEZ & PS that most investors should know about, you are absolutely right to point out the large number of GMOs that still need to be converted to full builds. That's just not going to happen in the four weeks left in 2014.

 

 

Well here's the CFO from the transcript of yesterday's conference:

 

 

Joe Euteneuer - Chief Financial Officer

Sure. So where we are on the network is, one, we have 260 million pops now covered on 1.9 LTE. We will have 800 voice done by year-end. We are at 92 million covered pops on 2.5 and will be 100 million pops by year-end and we have started 800 LTE deployment and should be done at the end of next year. So I think from a network standpoint we have been waiting to get to this point of having a network that is substantially complete. I mean I think 260 on 1.9 will continue to go up as far as number of covered pops. But I think now with the 2.5 of almost 100 million pops that’s sort of a third of the time you have a chance to hit a 2.5 tower and most of those towers are in concentrated areas so you can experience it.

 

 

http://seekingalpha.com/article/2726075-sprints-s-management-presents-at-bank-of-america-merrill-lynch-leveraged-finance-conference-transcript?page=1

[Ronnie2012]

Nope. The articles are nice, but I get to involved in the comments so I really don't even read their articles at all anymore. Wonder if their site visits have decreased since the trolls, S. Ali, Fabian, jacky (the idiot), and Doug LTE, and any of the others have taken over the comment section of any article related to sprint.

 

YES! I cant even read the articles anymore as well cause the negativity draws me in. Those four really get under my skin. you hit the nail on the head with jacky

[irev210]

Well, 

they do have the $200 fee if you don't return your phone (a Brightstar/Marcelo idea for sure) to make it less attractive to people signing up for a bit at AT&T and then dumping the contract by taking Sprint's ETF and selling the phones. It is sure open for abuse but most of these ETF payout plans are exploitable in some way or another. I like the waived fees with full device purchase. Puts them ahead of the game after the ETF payout, smart.

 

Also, this does NOT include additional employer discounts if I read the FAQ correctly:

Will the discount include my NVP?

• The Cut Your Bill in Half Event is calculated off of your net total competitor talk, text and data charges which will include your NVP discount.
• Additional NVP discounts through Sprint will not be awarded.
• The Sprint Half Price plans are only eligible for Consumer accounts

 

Anyways, I think this is pretty clever myself and provided people can't stack employer discounts it should mostly amount to reasonable rates in comparison to what current new customers like myself can get. I pay $77 before taxes for 20GB +2GB per line for 2 lines under Sprint Family Shared so if someone comes in and pays $60-70 then why would I care? They have to buy brand new phones so their bill would be more than mine anyways.

 

FWIW in regard to credit scores etc.. Sprint will be going after higher credit score customers with this promotion. AT&T and Verizon have the best overall customer portfolios in the industry and this also makes sense why T-Mobile was NOT included!

 

I am just confused how this is actually going to be implemented.  Does an employee just get a drop down box of data and price?

 

So a sprint employee sees a $100 verizon bill, then just selects 2 lines, 2GB data, $50/month from three separate drop down boxes?

 

I guess I am just more interested on the back-end implementation.  It just seems like a nightmare.  I know that T-Mobile just went through a very focused effort to get over 90% of its subscribers on simple choice.  This new promotion seems like a disaster for back office and plan management.

[JeffDTD]

The promotion is very smart. Its most favorable to sprint to get 2 year contract customers to switch as their aggregate bills for voice/text/data are higher than customers who have edge or next and receive lower access fees. The $350 max buyout also limits the likelihood that installment plan customers switch, if the buyout is even applicable to the payoff on financed devices. Basically, its a lot easier to half a bill where each line is paying $35 or $40 for access than $15.

 

With that said, I suspect this will give ATT and Verizon huge incentive now to push device financing on any contract customer who asks, more so than before because it makes leaving far more cost prohibitive on average.

 

And despite the bold promotion, I don't think it will be any hotter than the last promo after the initial influx it causes. Why? The steps are complicated and the mistrust of all wireless companies is so high. It literally seems "too good to be true"