Dan Hesse Tuesday took the wraps off what Sprint is calling “Framily” plans, which allows customers to add up to 10 members to one account.
Hesse made the comments during a CITI investor conference. He said the new plans will start at $55 for unlimited talk, text and 1GB of data. From there, the plans decrease as more individuals are added to the plan, eventually dropping to $25 per month when a single plan hits 7 devices. Because each account can be billed separately, customers can choose who is in their group.
According to a press release, all members of the group can customize their plan to meet their unique needs. For only $20 per month per line, Framily members can buy up to unlimited data plus get a new phone every year. Plan members can share the savings, without the hassle of sharing a bill. Each account can be billed separately.
“Framily plans allow people to decide who’s in your family,” Hesse said.
The Sprint Framily Plans will be available in Sprint company-owned stores and Sprint third-party dealers beginning Friday, Jan. 10.
Hesse called 2013 a significant year for Sprint, as it saw Softbank take over the company through an 80-percent buyout. Meanwhile, Sprint also took control of Clearwire. He commented on a number of other issues:
On the company’s fixed-line trial with Dish: “Our primary focus is mobile, but I think as 150 Mbps by end of 2015 on 2.5 spectrum…wouldn’t be surprised to see more cord cutting.”
On LightSquared: “It all depends on the economic model, so if you could figure out a win-win, I think we’d be open to it.”
On turning off the Nextel PTT network: “When we lost the account, we won 40 percent of our Nextel customers back. Bad news, we lost 60 percent.”
Free Service for Students through Best Buy: “We were just trying to see if we could do something special during the holidays. It was a limited time offer in one channel. The response was OK, but it wasn’t great. I think it had less applicability to a wide audience.”
On the economics of the Framily plans: “The Framily Plan is going to decrease ARPU, but it’s also going to decrease churn, and decrease subsidy expense…In total it’s a good financial model to go after.”
On not participating in the H-Block auction: As we look at future spectrum..our top pritotity is low-band spectrum. We have to make some choices with respect to the spectrum we would bid on.
On unlimited plans: “I think unlimited will be around for a very long time, but I also think eventually there will be a very large portion of people who will be willing to pay extra for a premium service. I’m not committing that we’ll always offer unlimted…but the price of unlimited may increase.”
On gambling: Don’t drink before you gamble.
Filed Under: Carriers
