With pricing wars tempered, carriers are instead appealing to customers by adding value with more perks and rewards. Both Verizon and Sprint this week announced new offerings that could help lure or keep customers.
Verizon said Tuesday that it’s including a free subscription to Apple Music in its top-tier unlimited plans.
Starting Thursday (Jan. 17), Verizon subscribers with Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited plans can get Apple Music at no cost.
This expands on a promotion Verizon has been running for a free six-month trial of Apple Music for all unlimited plan subscribers. The six-month offer is still available for Verizon customers with Go Unlimited plans.
“When we introduced six months free of Apple Music to Verizon Unlimited subscribers, we said it was just the beginning of a great collaboration between Verizon and Apple to bring music streaming to our loyal customers,” said Angie Klein, vice president of marketing at Verizon, in a statement. “Our customers loved the offer, so we’re expanding the value of our Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited plans by including Apple Music at the same plan price.”
Bundling popular subscription services is now common across carriers, with T-Mobile offering free Netflix on certain plans, AT&T providing HBO, and Sprint offering Hulu.
Apple music has been amassing subscribers, hitting 56 million total in early December, including paid and free-trial members, according to the Financial Times. Details of the agreement between Apple and Verizon have not been disclosed.
The same day Verizon announced its new offer, Sprint debuted a new customer rewards program that closely mirror’s T-Mobile’s ‘T-Mobile Tuesdays’ reward program. Sprint and T-Mobile are in the midst of working to secure regulatory approval for the pair’s pending merger.
Sprint’s app-based program, dubbed My Sprint Rewards, offers exclusive rewards and discounts across brands in categories including apparel, beauty, electronics, sports, and health.
At launch, Sprint offered a free one-topping pizza from Papa John’s. Customers also have a chance to win an all-inclusive trip for two to St. Lucia. Customers can sign up for the loyalty program at no additional cost and new deals will be added regularly, Sprint says.
“We are giving customers great perks – including free pizza and discounted movie tickets – on their own schedule,” said Dow Draper, chief commercial officer at Sprint, in a statement. “This is our way of saying thanks for being a Sprint customer.”
