AT&T's Cricket takes aim at Sprint, T-Mobile and Cincinnati Bell with $100 credit

AT&T Mobility's (NYSE: T) Cricket prepaid brand is hopping into the year-end promotional frenzy by offering a $100 billing credit to customers who switch from Sprint (NYSE: S), T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) and other carriers.

The offer, which runs through Dec. 31, is available to customers who switch from Cincinnati Bell Wireless, T-Mobile's MetroPCS prepaid brand, Sprint's Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile brands, and Sprint and T-Mobile themselves. The offer to include Cincinnati Bell is notable because that carrier is exiting the wireless business altogether and plans to turn off its network Feb. 28, 2015.

In August, Cricket launched a similar promotion but that had been aimed only at T-Mobile and MetroPCS subscribers.

In order to get the credit from Cricket, switching customers must purchase and activate a new line of service on Cricket's $40, $50 or $60 per month plans (the cost of those plans goes down by $5 per month if customers sign up for automatic bill payment).

Customers are limited to one $100 account credit per qualifying line of service. The credit will be applied around five days before the end of the customer's first monthly service period, and accounts must be active on a qualifying rate plan to receive credit.

The promotion from Cricket is just one of many offered by the nation's wireless carriers as they seek to lure switchers before the end of the fourth quarter. The end of the year has traditionally been a period when carriers roll out deals and promotions to get customers to switch--or to stay. However, the pace of the new deals has been increasing.

For example, Boost is offering up to a $100 port-in credit toward the purchase of a new device when a consumer switches to Boost Mobile. The offer is available nationally at select independent wireless dealer locations through the end of the year.

And earlier this week, T-Mobile launched a new family plan for its Simple Choice customers that offers unlimited voice, texting and LTE data for two lines for $100 per month. T-Mobile lets customers add up to eight more lines on the plan for $40 more per line per month. However, that expense does not include the cost of a new phone. Additionally, for a limited time, T-Mobile is reviving its offer of 10 GB of LTE data for $100 per month for a family of four (that's 2.5 GB per line). The extra data will last through January 2016, and then customers will get 1 GB per line.

But perhaps the most noteworthy promotion comes from Sprint. Through Jan. 15, Sprint is offering Verizon and AT&T customers half off their monthly bills if they switch to Sprint and purchase a new Sprint phone.

For more:
- see this Cricket page

Related Articles:
Sprint's Claure aims for blowout December thanks to new 'cut your bill in half' promotion
T-Mobile launches unlimited family plan starting at $100/month, undercuts rivals
AT&T ends 15 GB promotion after 13 days
AT&T cuts price of 15 GB shared data plan by $30
Sprint cuts $10 from 12 GB and 16 GB shared data plans
AT&T's Cricket targets T-Mobile and MetroPCS subs with $100 credit to switch