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To: Harvey Rosenkrantz who wrote (30303)	5/19/1999 12:16:00 AM
From: Jon Koplik	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

WSJ article about Sprint PCS plan with no roaming fees. May 19, 1999 Sprint Offers New Wireless Plan In a Bid to Compete With AT&T By NICOLE HARRIS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL NEW YORK -- Sprint Corp.'s wireless unit unveiled an ambitious calling plan targeting business customers. The offering, for one flat fee, permits users to make long-distance calls and calls off of Sprint's network. It is intended to compete with AT&T Corp's popular Digital One Rate plan, which offers nationwide calling for a single monthly rate. <<<[I am deleting a comparison "chart" that is just unreadable in this format]>>> Customers like AT&T's plan because they don't pay roaming fees or long-distance charges. "There's tremendous growth potential in this market," said Andy Sukawaty, chief executive of Sprint's wireless division. "The service has grown from an executive perk to a tool used by a broad range of mobile workers." Sprint's wireless division has been aggressively signing up customers with its own flat-rate calling plan. Last quarter, Sprint added 763,000 wireless users, bringing its total to 3.35 million wireless subscribers. Now the Kansas City, Mo., telecommunications company is focusing on the lucrative business arena where customers generally run up larger bills and switch phone companies less frequently. Market-research firm Cahners In-Stat, of Newton, Mass., says while one in four employees use wireless phones for business purposes today, that will grow to one in three by the year 2000. The firm also says wireless budgets for businesses are expected to increase 50% by the year 2002, signaling growth opportunities in the sector. Sprint customers will be able to add the new service to any existing wireless plan for an additional $19.99 a month, as long as they already spend at least $49.99. By comparison, AT&T's Digital One Rate plan starts at $89.99. Sprint faces major challenges. Cynthia Motz, a wireless analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, said Sprint may meet resistance from business customers concerned about its history of limited "coverage," or reach, for cellular service. "There's been a perception by consumers that their coverage is a little weak," she said. "It may take them a while to really penetrate this important market." Mr. Sukawaty disagreed. Coverage is no longer an issue, he said, noting that Sprint serves more than 4,000 cities across the country. He added that the company chose to target the business community only after it had sufficient capacity and coverage to handle extra users. "We had to first deliver on our promises," he said. His comments were a veiled reference to AT&T's recent problems with its wireless business. Users in large markets such as New York have complained of frequent fast-busy signals and dropped calls due to network congestion. An AT&T spokeswoman said Sprint's offering isn't as attractive as its plan because users can only make "free" off-network long-distance calls as long as they've paid the extra flat fee. "It took them a year to come up with this plan and we don't think it's competitive," she said. The spokeswoman added AT&T is always working to stay ahead of capacity demand. Copyright © 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.