Sprint to bundle local, long distance and wireless

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030827/telecoms_sprint_1.html


The new offering, called Sprint Complete Sense, will start at $49.99 for
unlimited local calling and a block of long distance minutes, the
Overland Park, Kansas-based company said in a statement.

Customers who also want wireless service can choose any Sprint PCS
wireless plan and get a 5 percent discount.

At the high end, customers can pay $189.99 for unlimited local,
nationwide long distance and unlimited wireless calls. The plan will be
offered to about 80 percent of U.S. households in 36 states and the
District of Columbia.


=============================================


SBC offers unlimited local and unlimted long distance from land lines
for $48.95, so this Sprint plan looks like a nonstarter to me.

============
Great news. With new ALL DISTANCE®services, you get all the nationwide
direct-dialed long distance you want.


Also included are*your phone line with unlimited local calls, plus our
most popular calling features, including CallNotes®Plus, Caller ID, Call
Waiting and more, all for just $48.95 a month --*our lowest price ever.

http://www01.sbc.com/Products_Servic..._1/1,,1126--6-
3-1,00.html

---

› See More: Sprint to bundle local, long distance and wireless

Phillipe <[email protected]> wrote:

> http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030827/telecoms_sprint_1.html
>
> The new offering, called Sprint Complete Sense, will start at $49.99 for
> unlimited local calling and a block of long distance minutes, the
> Overland Park, Kansas-based company said in a statement.

Yeah. Unfortunately, Sprint doesn't service this area - not being a major
city, we only have one phone company here. We can get basically the same
offer from Verizon for $59.95 per month, but Verizon's discounts are on
DSL, and not wireless. Verizon only offers wireless discounts with their
unlimited landline plan in a few of the former Bell Titanic states in the
Northeast.

> At the high end, customers can pay $189.99 for unlimited local,
> nationwide long distance and unlimited wireless calls. The plan will be

Dammit. I would take that in a second from Verizon. Doesn't make sense for
us from Sprint, even if we qualified for the package, because we only spend
around $45 per month on our Sprint PCS line (*including* taxes and fees).

On the other hand, we'd be paying Verizon $60/month for local/LD landline and
I already pay between $80 and $100 for my two VZW phones every month.

> offered to about 80 percent of U.S. households in 36 states and the
> District of Columbia.

THe deal is probably that they offer it:

1) in areas where Sprint is the ILEC - Sprint is not a major local landline
carrier, but they _are_ the Local Phone Company in some areas, particularly
in parts of Florida and in some rural areas in other states; and

2) in a bunch of major metropolitan areas in states where they've been
granted the right to compete for local service.

This isn't news. The two companies that service the vast majority of
Southern California's landlines, SBC and Verizon, offer similar packages here.

We didn't end up bothering with Verizon Freedom (VZ's unlimited local/LD)
because we just use our cell phones to make LD calls most of the time anyhow.

> SBC offers unlimited local and unlimted long distance from land lines
> for $48.95, so this Sprint plan looks like a nonstarter to me.

Well, not really. SBC's customer service sucks. They attempted to screw me
out of almost $200 in charges for service that they failed to provide because
of a maintenance screwup that caused me to lose both DSL _and voice service_
for about two months, for example.

When I lived in Cleveland, SBC ran a bunch of ads from former ex-customers
who had returned to SBC after having problems with other companies, and I
am sure that they do have a fair percentage of customers coming back because
the other phone companies aren't any better.

However, there are plenty of people who will not do business with SBC.

There's a market out there for alternative local carriers.

Besides, I'm sure there are satisfied customers of Sprint, AT&T and maybe even
MCI that have taken advantage of this type of offer from those carriers because
they're already happy with the long distance service from whichever company
they already did business with. (OK, I don't know about MCI, but the other
two for sure.)

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JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Services
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Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * [email protected]

Phillipe wrote:

> http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030827/telecoms_sprint_1.html
>

> The new offering, called Sprint Complete Sense, will start at $49.99 for
> unlimited local calling and a block of long distance minutes, the
> Overland Park, Kansas-based company said in a statement.

Old news. A friend of mine has had Sprint Complete Sense for four
months now.

> SBC offers unlimited local and unlimted long distance from land lines
> for $48.95, so this Sprint plan looks like a nonstarter to me.

Maybe for you. But SBC is not in the northeast, where we could easily
pay upwards of $60 for competing Verizon services.

"Isaiah Beard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Phillipe wrote:
>
> > http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030827/telecoms_sprint_1.html
> >
>
> > The new offering, called Sprint Complete Sense, will start at $49.99 for
> > unlimited local calling and a block of long distance minutes, the
> > Overland Park, Kansas-based company said in a statement.
>
> Old news. A friend of mine has had Sprint Complete Sense for four
> months now.
>
> > SBC offers unlimited local and unlimted long distance from land lines
> > for $48.95, so this Sprint plan looks like a nonstarter to me.
>
> Maybe for you. But SBC is not in the northeast, where we could easily
> pay upwards of $60 for competing Verizon services.
>
Sprint was offering their ION service previously but pulled the plug on that
.... one week before initiating the service in Charlotte. I was going to be
on that in a NY minute, as it would have cost yours truly $150 to cover
unlimited local & LD, caller id, forwarding waiting, etc,, DSL, 800# for all
four of my home office numbers, and up to 5 wireless phones. My telecom &
ISP expenses go over $350/mo.

On this new deal, from the above link, it's still not cost effective as it's
for a single home line. I spoke with their dept on it a few weeks ago.
Sprint is suppose to offer a small business plan in the fall, which I should
be very interested in ... as it should give a break for accounts with
multiple telephone lines.

Bob

This is old news.

--
Posted at SprintUsers.com - Your place for everything Sprint PCS
Free wireless access @ www.SprintUsers.com/wap

In article <[email protected]>,
Isaiah Beard <[email protected]> wrote:

> Phillipe wrote:
>
> > http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030827/telecoms_sprint_1.html
> >
>
> > The new offering, called Sprint Complete Sense, will start at $49.99 for
> > unlimited local calling and a block of long distance minutes, the
> > Overland Park, Kansas-based company said in a statement.
>
> Old news. A friend of mine has had Sprint Complete Sense for four
> months now.
>
> > SBC offers unlimited local and unlimted long distance from land lines
> > for $48.95, so this Sprint plan looks like a nonstarter to me.
http://www01.sbc.com/Products_Servic..._1/1,,1126--6-
3-1,00.html

>
> Maybe for you. But SBC is not in the northeast, where we could easily
> pay upwards of $60 for competing Verizon services.


SBC owns SNET.

Phillipe <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Maybe for you. But SBC is not in the northeast, where we could easily
>> pay upwards of $60 for competing Verizon services.
>
> SBC owns SNET.

Perhaps the proper statement would be "SBC is not in the vast majority
of locations in the Northeast" - since the only place where they offer local
service IS via SNET, *only* in parts of Connecticut.

--
JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * [email protected]

What I find is sad about the offer is that like you mentioned, it has been
out there forever, and it is overpriced. What I would like to see is
something like a true combination plan than a simple 5% discount. Those on
business plans generally get better discounts on their PCS services than the
5% being offered on this plan. Can someone combine discounts?

What I found the hard way was all of the dang taxes and fees that added on
to a local phone bill. We switched for six months to Birch for $26/month
which included most services. With taxes and fees that jumps to $36 easily.
What SBC charges in our area for a basic phone (with no extra features) was
around $12.50. With this $50 plan, the taxes and fees push the cost past $60
easily. Given that LD is unlimited after 8 pm now if you sign on for an
extra year, I don't need long distance on a landline.

I wish they would offer something much more competitive.

Tom
"Isaiah Beard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Phillipe wrote:
>
> > http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030827/telecoms_sprint_1.html
> >
>
> > The new offering, called Sprint Complete Sense, will start at $49.99 for
> > unlimited local calling and a block of long distance minutes, the
> > Overland Park, Kansas-based company said in a statement.
>
> Old news. A friend of mine has had Sprint Complete Sense for four
> months now.
>
> > SBC offers unlimited local and unlimted long distance from land lines
> > for $48.95, so this Sprint plan looks like a nonstarter to me.
>
> Maybe for you. But SBC is not in the northeast, where we could easily
> pay upwards of $60 for competing Verizon services.
>
>

Tom Grelinger <[email protected]> wrote:
> What I find is sad about the offer is that like you mentioned, it has been
> out there forever, and it is overpriced.

"Overpriced" is a very subjective term. Verizon Freedom, the only all-
you-can-eat local/LD plan available to me, is overpriced to us because
my wife and I rarely make long distance or even local toll calls from
our landline. I use Verizon Wireless America's Choice, Sarah uses
Sprint PCS Free & Clear, and both calling plans include nationwide
long distance. Plus, we both have unlimited nights and weekends, I have
1000 Verizon-to-Verizon minutes and Sarah has unlimited Sprint-to-Sprint
minutes.

You need to already be spending a certain amount on long distance to
make stuff like this make sense.

> I wish they would offer something much more competitive.

Some plans are less, some are more. MCI Neighborhood is, I think, $50,
Verizon Freedom is $60, for example.

--
JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * [email protected]