Goodbye SERO, hello EPRP

Sprint Nextel Corp.’s under-the-table Sprint Employee Referral Option has seen its final days. SERO was a plan Sprint Nextel introduced a few years ago that offered cheaper rates through an employee referral. And it wasn’t as though you had to have a blood relation to an employee; an e-mail address sufficed.
Once inside the world of SERO, customers could choose from three different plans including voice options of 500 minutes for $30 per month, 1,250 minutes for $50 per month and 2,500 minutes for $100 per month, which changed to unlimited minutes for $100 per month following Sprint Nextel’s recently announced unlimited calling plans. All SERO plans included unlimited data, free minutes after 7 p.m. and unlimited weekend minutes. Occasionally, SERO plans would include unlimited text messaging and SERO also offered an unlimited data plan for PC cards for $50 per month, $10 cheaper than the normal price.
However, SERO has waved goodbye and the replacement, Everything Plus Referral Program, has said hello. But when SERO said adieu so did the cheap prices. The new program continues to offer three rate plans, though most of the pricing has increased across the board. The 500 minute plans now cost $60 per month and 1,000 minute plans will run you $80 per month. The unlimited plan continues at $100 per month. All EPRP plans include unlimited night and weekend calling starting at 7 p.m., unlimited long distance, no roaming charges, unlimited mobile-to-mobile, unlimited text messaging, unlimited Web browsing, unlimited e-mail, unlimited GPS navigation, unlimited Sprint TV Premier and Sprint Music Premier. Customers purchasing select phones also receive unlimited Direct Connect and Group Connect service.
By comparison, Sprint Nextel’s mainstream Simply Everything plans begin at $70 per month for 450 anytime minutes, ramping up to 900 minutes for $90 and unlimited calling for $100.
And the other catch? It’s not as easy as finding an employee e-mail and logging in anymore. Prospective EPRP members must have an employee I.D. number to sign up for the plans.
Sprint Nextel added that customers on a SERO plan will be able to maintain their current offering, unless they upgrade their handset to the Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Instinct, which will require an EPRP plan.