We haven’t been shy with our praise of Boost Unlimited, the $50 per month unlimited prepaid calling, texting, and data plan from Boost Mobile. Not only does it fit all of those services together, but it also includes taxes and fees in the $50 charge. There has been some degree of customer complaining, but that seems to be par for the course in the wireless space, and it might be above water for prepaid. In any case, not everyone is a fan. Specifically, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg thinks that Sprint is a bit batty for creating such a product.

From InformationWeek’s Eric Zeman:

Seidenberg had some unkind things to say about its chief CDMA competitor, Sprint. Sprint’s pre-paid arm, Boost Mobile, recently announced an all-you-can-eat plan for $50 per month. Seidenberg doesn’t think Sprint’s network can handle it. He said, “I don’t know what Sprint thinks it is,” and he believes the increased network demand will cause Sprint to “eventually self-destruct.”

Perhaps Sprint doesn’t really know what it is at this point. What they aren’t is Verizon, and they should be making every effort to say that. In that regard, the Boost Unlimited plan is ingenious. It’s tough to judge without the entire quote at hand, but it sounds like Seidenberg is pooh-poohing the plan because it could induce a price war (Virgin has already acquiesced).

Also, does Seidenberg realize that the Boost plan is on the iDEN network, and not Sprint’s CDMA network? Yes, they could just as easily overload the iDEN network — perhaps more easily than the CDMA network. However, even if the Boost Unlimited plan does blow up the iDEN network, it won’t affect the CDMA network. Given this, though it’s tough to judge without the full quote in context, it sounds like Seidenberg is pooh-poohing his competitors for creating a competitive advantage based on price.

Posted By : Joe
Posted at : April 20th, 2009 - 7:26 am
Filed under : Boost Mobile