At 14 Jul 2007 15:54:51 +0000 Paul Miner wrote:

> That goes along with what the Sprint exec said a few weeks ago about
> wanting to get Sprint out of the subsidy + contract business and move
> them into a whole new business model of having customers purchase
> their device outright and then use it without a contract.

Oddly enough, that the business model Sprint used when they launched
nationwide. Of course, at the time, no one else had gone digital, so
there was no one else to take your $200 Sprint handset to- they were
essentially "locked" by incompatibility.

> I'm in favor
> of that, but then again, I'm not the type who always has to have the
> latest model, so perhaps it wouldn't affect me.

I think the model should change to a monthly discount for contract, sort
of like a magazine subscription- Reader's Digest is $4 if I pick it up
from the newsstand, but $2/issue if I commit to a year's subscription.

So, that $40 500-minute plan could be $50 with no contract, $40 with one-
year or $30 with two. And/or they could "perk" contract plans- free night
calls start at 7PM instead of 9PM for two-year contracts, etc.

This would also allow everyone to use the same plans and activate at
home. You call to activate your unsubsidized (or lightly-subsidized
phone) and choose from contract, no-contract, pre-paid, hybrid, or
balance-controlled plans depending on your needs (or credit score!)

This would also protect carriers from the "Amazon effect" where people
continually jump ship from a carrier they are happy with because a "new
customer deal" (like "free phone and $200 cash back") with an independent
dealer like Amazon is better than any handset upgrade discount any
carrier is willing to give.


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