Sprint prepaid adds 666,000 subscribers in third quarter
Sprint was the latest to announce their quarterly numbers, and again they weren’t very good. The company lost fewer postpaid subscribers than they have in earlier quarters this year, but they were still on the losing end nonetheless. Their saving grace, as it has been for years now, was Boost Mobile, which fueled the company’s prepaid growth. Overall, Sprint added 666,000 prepaid customers in the third quarter, mostly on the Boost end. That’s down from the second quarter, though, when the company added 777,000 subscribers.
CEO Dan Hesse said that Boost has been doing well since they added the $50 unlimited plan. “During the first three quarters of 2009, Boost has generated over 2.1 million net adds, which is more prepaid net adds than any other carrier reported on a full-year basis in 2008.” The company will add Virgin Mobile in the fourth quarter, or in the first quarter 2010 at the latest. That should lead to more prepaid net adds in future quarters.
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Here’s what I read Joe – Sprint continues to loose as monthly no-contract takes center stage. The latest in the array of monthly unlimited prepaid plans unveiled by U.S. providers this year is Walmart’s new Straight Talk wireless service. According to ovum.com this new breed of monthly prepaid plans signals intensifying competition and interest among operators in capturing customers in the growing prepaid segment. At $45 a month, Straight Talk offers what Virgin Mobile, Leap Cricket, Sprint Boost Mobile and MetroPCS don’t. All have $30 monthly voice-only unlimited offerings, but none include texting and web access, which is what you get with Sraight Talk. Virgin Mobile, Leap, etc. also include an array of additional charges for services (such as roaming, long distance, call forwarding, and 411 information calls).
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 10:52 am
Boost Mobile’s plan doesn’t have roaming, and FULLY includes calling, web, texting AND walkie talkie (direct connect).
Boost still offers competitive international calling and text rates; Straight Talk does not offer outgoing international calling or outgoing international text messaging.
In fact, Straight Talk customers who attempt to send international text messages can be deactivated.
Posted on November 4th, 2009 at 2:50 pm