Sprint Nextel went one step further than rival U.S. mobile operators on Thursday by offering unlimited voice, data, and multimedia services for $99.99 per month.
The $99.99 Simply Everything plan, launching Friday, includes unlimited voice minutes, data services, e-mail, Web surfing, Sprint TV, Sprint Music, GPS navigation and push-to-talk services. It will be available to new and existing customers on both Sprint's CDMA and iDEN networks.
Last week, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, and T-Mobile USA all announced unlimited voice minutes for $99 per month. The stampede was good news for people who spend a lot of time talking on the phone because existing voice plans in that price range were limited to a few thousand minutes a month. But with those carriers, data services cost extra.
Sprint is under pressure to undercut its competitors because it is the underdog in the market. On Thursday, it posted a loss of $29.5 billion for the fourth quarter of 2007, counting a writedown of $29.7 billion for Sprint's 2005 acquisition of Nextel. It also suffered a net loss of 108,000 subscribers and forecast losing about 1.2 million post-paid customers in the current quarter, a trend it does not expect to improve in the second quarter of this year. Average revenue per user is also declining, Sprint said.
The carrier has had trouble integrating Nextel, which brought in a different network, customer base, and corporate culture, according to industry observers. Sprint also has struggled to differentiate itself from the nation's other big mobile operators. Chairman, President, and CEO Gary Forsee resigned last October and was replaced by a new CEO, Dan Hesse, in December.
Current Sprint customers will be able to switch to the Simply Everything plan without extending their contracts, according to Sprint. Every time a customer adds one more line using the plan, Sprint will cut another $5 off the monthly rate for that line, so for example, two lines would cost $194.99 per month.
This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.
Download now »
Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.
Download now »
The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.
Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation
Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.
Download now »
Sign up to receive Applications Resource Alerts
Like any valuable resource, IT is a terrible thing to waste. But by applying the same lean techniques that have been used to streamline manufacturing processes, IT departments can reduce costs, improve performance and better manage resources.
Download now! »
Stephen Elliot, vice president of strategy for CA's Infrastructure Management and Data Center Automation business unit, explains why difficult economic times drive the need for simplified management capabilities and advanced automation tools.
Listen now! »
According to a recent study CA conducted with 300 CIOs and top IT executives, 64 percent of respondents say they've already invested in virtualization, and the other 36 percent reported that they plan to invest in virtualization.
Download now! »
In this video learn about process automation in a virtualized world. How CA and VMware are enabling enterprise datacenter automation.
View now! »
Recommend This
