Mobile virtual network operator Cool Mobile has big plans for this year, starting off today by expanding its cool.Prepaid handset lineup to six Motorola Inc. devices and aiming to offer hybrid and postpaid service plans by the end of the year.
The MVNO also is collaborating with Motorola to offer the handset developer’s iRadio service—something that would be exclusive to Cool in the prepaid market, according to company officials.
“It’s something that we’re working with Motorola on,” said Marvin Jemal, Cool’s chairman and chief executive officer. He declined to give a timeframe in which the iRadio service would be available. iRadio allows users to stream up to six chosen channels of music to their wireless handsets, and Cool users would be able to purchase full-length tracks for $1.
A Motorola official said the company does not have an official iRadio contract with Cool.
Cool has been operating largely in stealth mode since its soft launch in December, Jemal added. However, the MVNO has phones already available through Sears department stores and also has relationships with Value City department stores and with Midwestern big-box retailer Meijer. Jemal added that the company also plans to launch service with other big-box retailers-“the usual suspects,” he said, without naming names-by May or June. The MVNO’s handset prices range from about $60 for an entry-level model up to the mid-$200s for a Motorola Razr. Jemal said the company also expects to offer Motorola’s Slvr model, which is available today exclusively through Cingular Wireless L.L.C. Cool noted that having “cool” handsets and simple charges is part of the MVNO’s strategy to differentiate itself with young customers disenchanted with confusing prepaid plans and clunky prepaid phones.
The MVNO, which operates on Cingular’s GSM network, offers prepaid calls for 10 cents a minute, with an access fee of 30 cents per day. The per-minute rate is competitive with rates offered by other operators, and the per-day fee is substantially less than the usual $1 per day offerings from national carriers. Cool also offers 15-cent per minute international calling to countries such as Mexico, Japan, China, South Korea, Israel, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The Cool Web site is expected to be re-launched within the next six weeks, and its new iteration will feature an online community and the ability to sample content online, Jemal said. Paul Gordon, senior vice president for sales and marketing, said that the company’s platform is content and entertainment driven. But data services are not available for now. Jemal said that would be coming shortly and in phases, with Cool first allowing access to Cingular’s Media Net data services by June and eventually hosting its own exclusive content.
Cool Mobile also seeks to differentiate itself with a rewards program similar to those offered by airlines. For each minute of airtime used, Gordon explained, the customer gets a reward point that can be accumulated and redeemed for items ranging from small kitchen appliances to plasma televisions. Jemal added that Cool is working to link its rewards programs to those offered by companies such as Best Buy, Circuit City and Sears to allow customers enrolled in both programs to use points across the programs. The company also expects that the rewards program will help it better identify the demographics of its customers and market to them.
The rewards program, Gordon said, is part of Cool’s strategy to increase the longevity of its customers. The MVNO has opted to start out with prepaid plans, and Jemal said Cool expects to offer hybrid plans within six months and postpaid plans within a year.
Jemal noted that Cool doesn’t plan to spend huge amounts on marketing to gain customers. Instead, it will rely on negotiations with retailers for space, educating store staff about the product and add-on sales, and collaborative marketing that ties into retailers’ seasonal promotions such as back-to-school shopping.
