Fair & Flexible? Not quite what they think
According to Sprint, A customer with 800 minutes of usage saves $52.50 with Sprint
Cingular: $50/600 minutes, .40 per minute overage = 130.00
Sprint: $35/300 minutes, 500 minutes overage at .10/minute = 77.50
Sprint charges 77.50 for 800 minutes. Cingular offers 850 minutes for 59.99... savings of 17.51
Lets look at how they compare at each price point, based on monthly access charges:
Sprint: 39.99 - 350 minutes
49.99 - 450
59.99 - 550
79.99 - 850
99.99 - 1250
149.99 - 1965
199.99 - 2680
249.99 - 3395
Cingular: 39.99 - 450
49.99 - 600
59.99 - 850
79.99 - 1250
99.99 - 2000
149.99 - 3000
199.99 - 4000
249.99 - 6000
Finally, lets look at what Sprint REALLY charges for minutes under Fa...
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Cingular: 39.99 - 450
49.99 - 600
59.99 - 850
79.99 - 1250
99.99 - 2000
149.99 - 3000
199.99 - 4000
249.99 - 6000
Sprint: 40.00 - 500
50.00 - 700
65.00 - 1100
80.00 - 1400
100.00 - 2000
115.00 - 2500
I admit freely these don't include the roaming option, meaning for just $5 more to each plan, these would have the same roaming capability as Cingular.
If you want to try and compare plans, lets try and keep it fair.
By the way, Sprint customers are entitled to 90 days to gauge how they will use their plan so that they can change the plan and add or remove options without extending their contract. So if a customer gets attached to Fair & Flexible and should be on ...
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STOP TALKING ABOUT THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT. GOD!!!
i, for instance, would benefit from fair and flexible. i go to college, i travel arount alot, so i have a nationwide plan, blah blah blah(btw, never had connection issues anywhere in the u.s. i've traveled to using sprint, cept where there were roads and no people, then i roamed(several years and it happened once)). i use my phone some months 300 minutes, some months 1000. with cingular, i could get get roll over, wich is cool(i almost switched for it once upon a time), but i still would pay for a set number of minutes, and maybe i'd use them, maybe not. and i still could go over. so say i use the 600 minute plan for $50. i use 300 min the first month, i hav...
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Another benefit of Cingular over Sprint is that you don't have to pay extra to roam off net. Sprint charges extra for access to roaming partners.
So to equal Cingular's plan, you are actually spending a minimum of $40 for 300 minutes.
Not to mention, as much as Sprint wants you to believe they are all digital, all of their coverage is not. This creates problems with things OTHER than calling, and even creates quality of call issues on calling. Analog is far less efficient, and has much worse call clarity than CDMA.
With Cingu...
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phonepimp3376 said:...
The fact of the matter is that you are one of the rare people this plan would benefit in the early stages of the plan. But if you look at the actual costs involved long term, Rollover still comes out on top.
Another benefit of Cingular over Sprint is that you don't have to pay extra to roam off net. Sprint charges extra for access to roaming partners.
So to equal Cingular's plan, you are actually spending a minimum of $40 for 300 minutes.
Not to mention, as much as Sprint wants you to believe they are all digital, all of their coverage is not. This creates problems with things OTHER than calling, and even creates quality of call issues on calling. Analog is far less efficient, and has much wor
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As for coverage, GSM Nation is ALL DIGITAL coverage. Go to http://www.sprint.com select the national coverage map. The dark green and beige are digital coverage. The lighter green is ANALOG, or non-digital coverage. Then compare GSM Nation, which is ALL digital. I think you'll see my point.
The downfall of analog is that it does not support advanced features like internet and downloads, and will not allow access to digital voicemail. Call quality is abyssmal compared to digital.
that is completely wrong! now the dark green is sprint corporately owned license. the bage is affiliate market. the light green that is other carriers network. the light green is both digital and analog coverage!!!!! i repeat the light green on the coverage map is both digital and analog coverage!!!!!!
hear is what you fail to comprehend sprint does not inflate it's native coverage by showing other carriers network a...
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phonepimp3376 said:
Dude, give it up... If I misunderstand it then so do your customers...the lighter green is labeled 'off-network roaming - analog' How the HELL is that digital?
PP, You have said over and over again that most of Sprint's network is Analog. You have just proved yourself wrong. If most of it is analog, then why oh why do the coverage maps show Off Network for the areas you are referring to? Common sense would indicate that off network means just what it sounds like, Not part of the Sprint Network, but your phone can work there in roaming....
You think that Sprint only uses the analog parts of the roaming partners' networks? Think again. Sprint customers have access to ALL CDMA coverage. This includes all of Verizon's, Alltel's, USCC's and any other CDMA carrier.
As a Sprint customer myself I am in the Sprint network about 99% of the time. I have Sprint coverage where ther is no ATTWS coverage. When I step out of the footprint I am on the Verizon network CDMA. In these areas there is no GSM coverage by anyone.
If a Sprint sales person has even half a brain, they will make sure that the customers actual phone usage doesn't go over 300 minutes on a regular basis.
If they are regularly going over 400 or 500 minutes a month, then they need to be on a fixed rate plan, like the 700 minute national plan, or the 1000 minute regional plan.
If a Sprint salesperson knowingly sells this plan to someone who regularly uses 400 or more minutes a month, or someone who can actually plan out their usage, then that person needs to get a swift kick to the head repeatedly until they get the idea. Selling this to someone who needs mo...
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I stand by my statement that a decent salesperson, by asking a few probing questions, can get a rough idea of what plan they should be on. If erratic usage is a problem, bump them one above where they think they'll come in for usage.
In Cingular's case, after the first full month, rollover begins to build. But here's a plus over Sprint: Once you have built up a good base of rollover minutes, you can reduce your price plan, keep the rollover minutes as a cushion, and actually REDUCE your bill.
The main thing you need to realize is that for people that want Sprint service (for whatever reason it may be). That also have very drastic shifts in usage Fair & Flexible is a good deal for them compared to our fixed rate plans. Because if they only go over their 300 minutes (say they spike at a 1,000 in a month) once or twice a year, then by saving money all the other months, this works out well for them. Again, this plan is not for everybody.
Unfortunately, the way most reps sell it here in the NorthEast, you would think it was the Holy Grail. Hope that's not the case nationwide.
as for me personally i sell the majority of my customer 2000 min - 6000 min plans. average mrc 98$$$
We offer it for the first time user who is definitely not going to be a power user. Most of our activations to Sprint are actually ATTWS and T-Mo ports coming in for coverage and techno reasons so we can predict their usage. The holy grail? No. A superior tool for those who are extremely inconsistent in their usage? Yes.
F&F must be considered on an annual basis in order to be understood properly. This takes a serious adjustment in the thinking of wireless reps because monthly price plans are so ingrained into the psyche. People who think they want rollover minutes are who we offer F&F to because for most who are attracted to the concept of rollover it is really out of fear of having a huge bill during the month or two tha...
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Assuming 2 years at entry level price points:
F&F= 300 minutes - 35.00
off net roaming - 5.00
additional minutes to match the opposing price plan - 150 @ .10 = 15.00
Total/month = 55.00
GSM Nation = 450 minutes with rollover - 39.99
no additional for off net roaming
Total/month = 39.99
Difference 15.01/month
Total difference over 2 years = 360.24
and your point is...?
Not to mention, Sprint charges extra for off net roaming, bringing the pricing in line with the 39.99 price point at Cingular, who does not charge extra for off net roaming.
So your two year cost for F&F to match GSM Nation - 1440.00
Subtract the cost of Cingular GSM Nation for 24 months - 959.76
Leaves you paying Sprint an additional - 480.24
FOR BASICALLY THE SAME PLAN!
Now compare Sprint's National Coverage map from their website to Cingular's GSM NAtion, and notice that Sprint's digital coverage is substantially LESS than Cingular's!
PS I still want my data, just cant wait until the ...
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phonepimp3376 said:
You must not be familiar with MEdia Works on Cingular... 1500 text messages, 200 MMS messages and unlimited Wireless Internet Express for 19.99
With Sprint my data with a Palm was still only $15.00, If need to contact some one I'll call or email that simple. 😉
I have a buisness that I'm going to base out of Mexico and I need to keep in touch with my associates. International DirectConnect is a hell of alot cheaper than renting a phone down there or roaming with anybody from here; plus certain packages include Intn'l data associated w/ the walkie talkie. The i930 will be dual band iden/gsm smartphone. Cingular does not meet my requirements. And again you just can't seem to let ...
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phonepimp3376 said:
sorry if I seem confused, but when I see ANALOG that does NOT ****ING MEAN DIGITAL!!!
PP
it's analog coverage NET, that means it's used as a last option when digital is not available. digital is still present. i think you have a learning disability. i can't help you, you're stubborn and refuse to let new information enter your brain. 🙄
...that said, who's going to volunteer to explain that the world is round, not flat, to PP?? he still doesn't get it.... 😈
Off net analog roaming means that there IS no digital coverage in that part of the net, right? Or does Sprint speak some language that makes analog means something other than NON-DIGITAL?
I have never said Sprint's NATIVE coverage is analog. But your coverage maps does not show JUST native coverage. Of the coverage it depicts, the majority is OFF net, and analog. This has been my point from the beginning. So why do I need to be educated?
By comparison, when you look at a Cingular GSM map, all you see is digital, because there ARE no analog areas.
phonepimp3376 said:
In ALL spots in the light green ash... just say it. If there were digital coverage there it wouldn't be labeled ANALOG, would it? And looking at the map, there is a great deal of coverage when you ARE off the network. Agreed?
I have never said Sprint's NATIVE coverage is analog. But your coverage maps does not show JUST native coverage. Of the coverage it depicts, the majority is OFF net, and analog. This has been my point from the beginning. So why do I need to be educated?
By comparison, when you look at a Cingular GSM map, all you see is digital, because there ARE no analog areas.
YOU FUC*ING IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! JESUS! OKAY READY ONE MORE TIME DILDO!!
Verizon. They use CDMA. We ...
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Do you honestly think a customer looking at that thinks analog=digital? please!
If it were me, I would be making sure the marketing materials were easy for the customer to understand.
http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/coverage/RoamingCv ... »
It shows the digital roaming areas. Sprint prefers to roam on CDMA because it is cheaper than roaming on analog.
Phonepimp, I hope this answers your question about digital roaming with Sprint.
You do not backpedal well at all my friend.
If I was looking on the Sprint website to find out about roaming options I think I would click the roaming tab. They do have one map that calls roaming analog, they just haven't changed the terminology yet. And it is a general map.
Big whoop! It just goes to show a "let's see if we can find a weakness in our competitors or if we can create one if we can't find a real one." attitude that is so prevalent in wireless.
Let's talk about reality. A Sprint customer can use any CDMA or analog signal without roaming charges anywhere in the USA. A GSM customer can use GSM so in some cases no roaming means no talking because GSM is not nearly as wel...
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Analog has them all beat, but analog is a very poor substitute for digital.
They greatly overestimate their coverage. Just like they advertised that they have more towers than anyone else. And that GSM is the newest technology and will replace CDMA and on and on. They have absolutely no credibility. In fact they were sued over coverage maps several years ago and were forced to let thousands of customers out of their contracts.
They let the customers out of their contracts and didn't change the maps nor did they add coverage to those locations.
If a customer needs analog to make a call and can make the call over having no digital signal at all they could care less. The fact is they made the call.
Also Cingular is having a wee problem in California. It seem...
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I used to sell Cingular and i think rollover is a great marketing tool but in my opinion, if you don't normally use all your minutes, rollover doesn't really matter. But people really like to hear "rollover minutes" and it was a good way to overcome not having unlimited night and weekend minutes.