Sprint is sweetening its offer for customers who switch back to the carrier from its rivals, according to RCR Wireless News.
The nation’s fourth-largest operator is offering an additional $200 in service credit per line for users who switch, on top of its offer to pay as much as $650 per line to cover switching fees. The promotion runs through September 15 and appears to be available only to users who were once Sprint customers.
Sprint representatives weren’t immediately available to comment on the promotion in response to questions from FierceWireless.
The campaign underscores Sprint’s ongoing effort to grow its customer base in a competitive U.S. smartphone market where growth has slowed significantly. The carrier continues its offer to cut the rate plans in half of customers who switch from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, and it is currently promoting buy-one, get-one-free deals on Samsung’s Galaxy S7.
Those promotions are clearly resonating with consumers. Sprint added 173,000 net postpaid phone customers in the second quarter of 2016, far outpacing analysts’ estimates and marking its fourth consecutive quarter of positive growth. And it claimed to be postpaid net port positive against its three bigger rivals during the period, which would mark the first time in more than five years that it won more customers from each of the major operators than it lost to them.
The aggressive marketing tactics are taking a toll on Sprint’s bottom line, however. The operator posted a net loss of $302 million in the second quarter, significantly larger than the $20 million loss it reported during the same period a year earlier.
Sprint shares have gained substantial ground this year as the carrier’s subscriber base has grown, climbing from less than $2.50 per share early this year to more than $6 now. But some analysts remain unconvinced over Sprint’s long-term prospects.
"Unless something changes dramatically… there is just no plausible case for Sprint equity at anything like these levels… regardless of whether Sprint is or is not doing 'better,'" MoffettNathanson analysts wrote last month.
For more:
- see this RCR Wireless News report
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