AT&T and Sprint on Friday rolled out dueling BOGO promotions offering customers buy-one-get-one and other discounts on the iPhone 6S and other popular smartphones.
Now through June 30, AT&T said it is offering customers a free device when they add a new line or upgrade their device on AT&T Next. The second phone must be a new line purchased on AT&T Next 24 or EIP 24. Device credits of up to $695 will be spread out over 30 monthly bills.
Eligible devices include the Apple iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge and S6 edge+, Samsung Galaxy Note5, LG G5 and V10, Microsoft Lumia 950, HTC One A9 and the Kyocera DuraForce, AT&T said. Devices purchased as part of the promotion must be from the same manufacturer, AT&T said.
Alongside the phone deal, AT&T is offering DirecTV subscribers four lines of unlimited data for the price of three at $180 per month.
The carrier is also targeting business customers with three offers, including $250 off eligible tablets with a two-year contract and 15 percent off a new Small Business service contract with five lines or more.
Sprint is offering customers a free iPhone 6S when customers buy an iPhone 6S or 6S Plus and add a second line. The carrier is also offering to waive its $30 activation fee for the free device. The BOGO promotion requires installment billing for a “well-qualified customer,” Sprint said.
Sprint is also shaving $200 off eligible iPads when users buy an iPhone 6S or 6S plus on a lease or EIP plan. Eligible devices include the iPad Mini 4, Air 2, Pro 9.7 and Pro 12.9.
Both carriers continue to offer up to $650 per line to cover switching costs for customers.
Friday’s offers are far from first buy-one-get-one deals coming from U.S. carriers recently.
In January, T-Mobile ran a BOGO promotion for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6S. Two months later, a BOGO bonanza broke out between all four carriers as they vied for customers following Samsung’s launch of the Galaxy S7.
The offers come as the carriers seek to speed up slowed upgrade cycles and boost weak handset add figures from the first quarter.
Though Sprint’s 22,000 postpaid phone net additions trounced AT&T’s postpaid handset losses of 363,000, both carriers are looking to give their numbers a bump.
According to BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk, Sprint in particular needs to pull a much higher number of postpaid phone net additions to help stem its current cash burn problem.
