Sprint turned on its San Diego system today making it the 4th carrier in town. The lineup is GTE-analog, Airtouch-Analog/CDMA 800mhz,
PacBell-GSM 1900mhz, Sprint-CDMA 1900mhz. With this variety of service going head to head, this market will be an interesting model to study for call quality, service and price.
From a call quality standpoint, my 800mhz cdma phone beat my old analog phone hands down. I don't know anyone personally who has the PacBell service and the Sprint is brand new, but I'll keep on looking and report.
Here is some information regarding the Sprint pricing:
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GREATER VALUE
-- There's no long-term, cellular-style contract commitment.
-- Affordable service plans are generally priced less than comparable
service offerings from conventional cellular systems. The basic Sprint PCS
service packages for San Diego consumers include the "San Diego Plan" with no
monthly access fee and $0.35 per minute or the "Reward Plan" which includes
300 minutes per month for $90 and $0.25 per each additional minute. These
promotional rate plans are available until February 14, 1997.
-- All San Diego customers who sign up for Sprint PCS service by
February 14, 1997 will automatically become members of the Sprint PCS "Pioneer
Program." Membership benefits include a $50 pre-paid Sprint calling card,
emergency phone exchange, personalized handset programming, the Executives'
Forum, one handset upgrade after using 5,000 minutes of Sprint PCS service,
and discounts on local events and dining.
-- The Sprint PCS basic service package includes at no additional charge:
voicemail, caller ID, call forwarding, call waiting, three-way calling,
detailed billing and more. There is no service activation fee or separate
interconnection charge.
-- The first minute of incoming calls is free in customers' home service
areas.
-- With Sprint as the long distance career, customers pay a simple flat
traveling rate of 50 cents per minute for calls placed or received in other
Sprint PCS service areas. |
