Over the past several weeks, Sprint PCS has rolled out several additions to its Wireless Web service designed to target the consumer market, particularly teen users.
In the last month, users of Sprint’s Wireless Web service have seen new folders added to their launch screens titled “Games,” “Music” and “Messaging.” The stated goal behind this dramatic expansion of wireless Internet services is twofold-to prepare the company for the upcoming holiday shopping season, as well as to keep one step ahead of the wireless Internet services offered by its competitors.
“Looking at our marketing calendar, the next seven to eight weeks are a big retail buying period for wireless services, and we’re trying to get these services launched before that gets started,” said Jeff Hallock, Sprint’s director of consumer marketing.
It also is a push to target younger users, which today do not make up a large percentage of Sprint’s user base.
“Clearly there is an opportunity in the consumer market,” Hallock said. “We’re really doing two things with the Wireless Web service. One is to make sure we deliver to our customers applications that are meaningful to them; and two, to load up with applications interesting to the youth market. … The teen and youth market and the early adopter market act somewhat similar and this (entertainment services) appeals to both groups.”
It’s about time, say analysts. With popular, teen-aware consumer brands like Virgin Mobile preparing to enter the country as a virtual private carrier specifically to target the young adult crowd, analysts like Alan Reiter of Mobile Internet and Mobile Computing have encouraged U.S. carriers to start marketing more heavily to the same group.
“In the past, there was nothing to crow about Sprint. I’m actually pleasantly encouraged about Sprint getting it, though,” said Reiter. “When Sprint originally came out with its data offering from Phone.com, it was disappointing-run-of-the-mill, plain, static content. But now, it seems Sprint has really been seeing the light and getting involved with applications that are going to be moneymakers in the future.”
Reiter and other analysts following the rollout of wireless Internet services worldwide saw striking differences between the rather generic content offered in the United States and the dynamic and more popular content offered overseas, particularly the successful i-mode service in Japan. While some talk revolved around technology, most feel compelling content is what drives the market, and therefore, what was lacking domestically.
Sprint, for its part, seems to have taken note of the overseas differences as well, but the carrier was inspired by two factors in pursuing entertainment services.
“We learned from overseas as well as Internet use here,” Hallock said. “We looked at what was popular on the Internet in the United States. … We quickly recognized the need to extend those types of things from the desktop to the mobile environment.”
The messaging, games and music services launched in the past month represent the cornerstones of Sprint’s entertainment content offerings, to which the carrier plans to add supporting services over time. Just last week, Sprint struck content agreements with FunCaster.com for additional games and Katrillion Media for teen content. FunCaster brings an additional 12 game applications to the “games” folder on Sprint’s Wireless Web home site, while Katrillion is a teen news and content site.
Additionally, it tapped the *CD service from ConneXus Corp., a service that allows subscribers to identify and buy music heard on the radio via their Sprint PCS wireless phones. Users who access the *CD site from their wireless phones must hold their phones to the speaker of a radio, where the *CD site “hears” the song, and uses proprietary technology to determine the title, artist and album. The service then informs the user of this information and allows them to listen to samples of other music on the same album and also buy the CD using a credit card.
Users may connect to the *CD service either through the Music folder in their Wireless Web home page or simply by dialing *23.
Hallock stressed that the recent rash of entertainment content does not represent a shift away from business users, pointing specifically to the introduction of the Wireless Web for Business service launched in August. That service is aimed at enterprise customers, offering to wirelessly enable business systems, such as e-mail and sales tools, by offering a private network connection between the enterprise network and Sprint’s wireless network.
“All are equally pressed,” Hallock said.
Although Reiter said he is impressed with the new content, questions continue about pricing. Currently, Sprint bills for all Wireless Web services the same-via a per-minute fee either charged separately or included in packaged service plans.
“The trick is to offer the right pricing structure. Who’s your target market? Kids who can’t pay too much,” Reiter said. “You can’t price it as a high-end service. The wireless industry has not done a great deal to tap the youth market. Paying 40 cents a minute or whatever it is to play games is no way to target the youth market.”
An inappropriate pricing structure could cripple even the most innovative content offerings, he said.
But Hallock defended the system, pointing to the new Wireless Allowance prepaid plan controlled by parents. But Reiter is arguing for flat-rate game pricing, under which users could play games for an unlimited amount of time for a flat fee per month.
Hallock said Sprint is evaluating several pricing options, but is concerned about offering one type of plan for games and another for voice services. The idea is that while per-minute fees for all services may not be seen as fair, it is at least easy to understand, and that is Sprint’s primary concern at this time.
“We’re looking at a lot of different models going forward,” he said. “We’ve staked our business on clarity and simplicity. We now have a model our customers like and understand, but we are evaluating lots of different things.”
