Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Sprint Ups the Ante In Latest Price War

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 15:47:52 -0400

Sprint Ups the Ante In Latest Price War

By JANE SPENCER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
A fresh round of pricing wars is sweeping the
wireless-phone industry, as carriers scramble to
lock-in new customers.

The new offerings give the best deals to customers
who spend at least $60 a month on their cellphone
plans.

Sprint PCS made the most dramatic move Monday,
announcing a new set of nationwide calling plans that
allow callers to travel anywhere in the country
without facing extra roaming fees. The new PCS
Free & Clear America Plans range in price from $45
to $125, depending on how many minutes of talk
time are included. The cheapest plan comes with
400 minutes that can be used to make calls anytime,
and the priciest plan includes 2,500 minutes. The
offers are likely to appeal to cellphone users who
spend time in remote parts of the country where
roaming is necessary. Consumers are often frustrated
by roaming charges because they can drive up the
cost of flat-rate calling plans.

T-Mobile also tweaked some of its plans in an effort
to hold its position as the industry's bargain carrier.
The company has added more talk time to two of its
mainstay plans, and introduced one new plan.
T-Mobile has increased the minute allotment that
comes with its $60 National rate plan to 1,000
minutes from 800 minutes, and added 900 additional
minutes to its $100 national rate plan for a total of
2,500 anytime minutes. The carrier has also
expanded its offerings with an $80 plan that includes
1,500 minutes that can be used anytime. The plans
offer the cheapest per minute costs of any carrier,
according to Legg Mason. But customers still
sometimes pay to roam.

New plans at Cingular Wireless give customers more
say in how their minutes are divvied. Carriers
typically give people a smaller bundle of "anytime"
minutes that can be used during the day, and a larger
bundle of night and weekend minutes. Under
Cingular's new policy, customers can choose to have
fewer night and weekend minutes and get more
anytime minutes. Cingular is also testing new plans in
Washington state and Idaho called Cingular
SuperHome Unlimited Plans that allow callers to
make as many calls as they want within the region for
a flat fee starting at $50 a month.

Nextel Communications has rolled out a new $70 plan with 1,000 anytime minutes.
The plan also includes 5,500 direct connect minutes, which allow customers to
use their phones like walkie-talkies to talk to other Nextel customers.

The plans are a good deal for consumers who make a lot of calls, but consumers
should watch out for added fees and charges that can drive up the overall costs.
The new plans from T-Mobile and Cingular don't include roaming charges. Sprint
PCS has simultaneously increased the price of PCS Vision, an add-on service that
allows users to surf the Internet on their phones and download video clips and
music, to $15 a month from $10 a month. In addition, many of the plans include
activation fees, and require customers to register for a one- or two-year
contract.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB105036585282718700-search,00.html?collection=wsjie%2F30day&vql_string=nextel%3Cin%3E%28article%2Dbody%29

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get a FREE REFINANCE QUOTE - click here!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/2CXtTB/ca0FAA/i5gGAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/