New Sprint ad campaign hinges on unlimited data

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) plans to continue to push its unlimited offerings with a new advertising campaign that centers on its new "All. Together. Now." tagline.

Click here for the first TV commercial in Sprint’s new ad campaign.The effort is notable in light of actions by Sprint's rivals to curtail users' data traffic by either metered billing or throttling. Sprint appears set to use the issue as a fulcrum to separate itself from the competition; for years the carrier has been pushing its "Simply Everything" plan that provides unlimited talking, texting and data.

"All. Together. Now. is designed to celebrate all the things people are doing with their mobile devices on the Sprint Now Network and promotes the idea that people can do more of those activities without wondering if they'll suffer slower speeds or higher costs as a result of that increased usage," said Bill Morgan, senior vice president for Sprint's corporate marketing.

As wireless users' data demands continue to grow--fostered by advanced smartphones and faster networks--carriers have found themselves trapped between unlimited data offerings and overtaxed data networks. As a result, many are charging subscribers based on the amount of data they use, or are throttling users' speeds after they download a certain amount of data. AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) kicked off the rush last year by charging $15 per month for 200 MB and $25 per month for 2 GB. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and T-Mobile USA have both warned that they will throttle the speeds of high-traffic users. Verizon has hinted it will move toward tiered pricing sometime this summer.

However, Sprint, it appears, isn't immune to users' data demands: The carrier in January tacked on an extra $10 per month fee for unlimited data for smartphone users.

Further, Sprint will keep its options open on tiered pricing. When asked last month whether Sprint would maintain its unlimited pricing plans, CEO Dan Hesse responded: "Maybe. Maybe not. The important thing for us is to differentiate. ... We're monitoring usage very closely and we're maintaining our unlimited position."

For more:
- see these two Sprint releases

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