Sprint CEO Promises "Very Disruptive" Price Cuts Coming Next Week
Earlier this month, Masayoshi Son, CEO of Sprint's parent firm SoftBank Corp., said the wireless carrier would adopt its "street fighter" tactics behind the leadership of newly appointed chief Marcelo Claure. It was also reported that Sprint was testing out new pricing plans as it prepares to battle T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. Apparently pleased with the results, Claure is ready to roll out what he calls "very disruptive" rates next week.
During a town hall call on Thursday, Claure identified his three priorities for reshaping Sprint. In order of importance, his priorities are to cut back prices, improve the network, and decrease operational costs.
"We're going to change our plans to make sure they are simple and attractive and make sure every customer in America thinks twice about signing up to a competitor," Claure said.
Why prioritize price over the network? Claure admits that Sprint's "network is behind," adding that when you have a great network, you don't have to resort to competing on price. In this case, however, Sprint lags behind some of the competition, so the first goal is to offer customers a better value with enticing price plans while the wireless carrier goes about improving its network.
Sprint has a real shot at advancing its standing in the wireless wars behind Claure. He's not the type to sugarcoat the situation or pretend that things aren't as bad as they seem. Just the opposite, he readily admitted that Sprint took too long to rip and replace its network, and he's aware that the rumblings on social media about Sprint are largely negative. He also confessed that the carrier didn't react to competitive moves, and that retail employees are having a tough time communicating the value of the company's "Framily" plan.
Now that he's identified the problems Sprint faces, it will be interesting to see how Claure and company decides to address them. We'll get our first glimpse of that next week.
During a town hall call on Thursday, Claure identified his three priorities for reshaping Sprint. In order of importance, his priorities are to cut back prices, improve the network, and decrease operational costs.
"We're going to change our plans to make sure they are simple and attractive and make sure every customer in America thinks twice about signing up to a competitor," Claure said.
Why prioritize price over the network? Claure admits that Sprint's "network is behind," adding that when you have a great network, you don't have to resort to competing on price. In this case, however, Sprint lags behind some of the competition, so the first goal is to offer customers a better value with enticing price plans while the wireless carrier goes about improving its network.
Sprint has a real shot at advancing its standing in the wireless wars behind Claure. He's not the type to sugarcoat the situation or pretend that things aren't as bad as they seem. Just the opposite, he readily admitted that Sprint took too long to rip and replace its network, and he's aware that the rumblings on social media about Sprint are largely negative. He also confessed that the carrier didn't react to competitive moves, and that retail employees are having a tough time communicating the value of the company's "Framily" plan.
Now that he's identified the problems Sprint faces, it will be interesting to see how Claure and company decides to address them. We'll get our first glimpse of that next week.
