Boost Mobile bolsters international flair with rate plan options

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) continues to tweak its prepaid efforts adding a more pronounced international flair to its Boost Mobile subsidiary. Boost Mobile customers can now add unlimited calling, messaging and push-to-talk features to the carrier’s unlimited rate plan for an additional $5 per month.
For the $5, customers will receive unlimited calls to landline numbers in more than 150 Mexican cities, unlimited calling to most of Canada (excluding the countries Northern Territories); unlimited worldwide text messages from the United States, and from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for customers with CDMA devices; and unlimited PTT services from the United States, Canada and Baja California to Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile for customers with iDEN devices.
For another $5 per month, or a total of $10, customers can also add unlimited calling to landline phones in more than 35 countries.
Sprint Nextel has noted that its Boost Mobile service tends to attract a more urban demographic that is more male and slightly older than its Virgin Mobile USA brand. The Boost Mobile service has also attracted a strong Hispanic demographic on the shoulders of its iDEN technology that has allowed for international calling and PTT services due to a close relationship with Latin American operator NII Holdings Inc.
Sprint Nextel recently moved to fold its Common Cents prepaid offering into its Virgin Mobile USA PayLo service. The carrier also recently bolstered its Boost Mobile service announcing plans to launch an Android-powered smartphone compatible with the brands $50 per month unlimited service offering.