While AT&T and T-Mobile have been dealing with their own issues during this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sprint has used the venue as the debut of a new mobile service plan it is calling “Framily.”
Though Sprint is calling the new plan “revolutionary,” the realities of the plan are a bit more mundane than that. Under a Framily plan, customers will be able to add up to 10 phone lines to their wireless plan, regardless of whether the people using those phones are really family. Each person on the plan can be billed separately.
The first line on the plan will cost $55, with each additional line costing $5 less and $25 being the minimum (for the 7th through 10th lines on a plan). Each line comes with unlimited talk and text, but only 1GB of data per month – not the unlimited data that Sprint is known for it its marketing materials. Unlimited data will cost $20 per line and comes with yearly device upgrade program seen in its “One Up” offering.
“The Sprint Framily Plan redefines the way we think of family plans and gives our customers the power to decide who will be a part of their group and gain greater savings as more members are added,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. “Sprint continues to be a leader in offering customers choice, flexibility and value. The Sprint Framily Plan makes Sprint the best choice for families and friends.”
That Sprint can tout what is essentially a 10-person family plan as a redefining moment for family plans just how far the carrier has slipped during the past year. Sprint was the last major U.S. carrier to unveil its T-Mobile-inspired unsubsidized pricing plan and the company was seen losing millions of subscribers as it shut down the Nextel platform last year.
The Framily pricing plan will be available starting January 10.