SunCom launches 1-2-3 SunRate pricing plans
Starting with AT&T's flat-rate plan, carriers have been moving in the direction of simpler service plans, but consumers there are still a dizzy array of plans for customers to choose from. Responding to consumer demand for simplicity, SunCom (Arlington, VA) has come out with the 1-2-3 SunRate pricing plans, which are designed to make choosing a wireless plan an easier process.
The SunRate plans allow customers to choose from either a local, regional, or national coverage area from which they can place calls to anywhere in the country at one rate, without incurring long distance or roaming charges. Although the basic concept is not new, the carrier is taking that concept to all of its plans.
"This is really a customer-driven initiative we see as essential to giving our customers what they want," said Gerald T. Vento, chairman and CEO of TeleCorp PCS Inc.
The carrier is borrowing from the success of fast food value meals, labeling the plans by numbers—the Local #1 SunRate, the Regional #2 SunRate and the National #3 SunRate. The consumer is required to make fewer decisions without sacrificing features. In addition to the one rate and no long distance/no roaming charges, other features include caller ID, three-way conference calling, voice mail, paging, detailed billing, Internet messaging, fax storage and retrieval, e-mail to the handset, and free 911 calls.
The carrier has launched a multi-million dollar campaign to advertise the 1-2-3 SunRate campaign in 27 markets over the next six months. Produced by Gotham Inc., the television, print, and radio ads feature individual characters that are the embodiment of each of the three plans.
"Based on customer feedback, we are trying to eliminate the feeling that wireless plans have too many conditions and too many rate plans," Vento said. "SunCom customers will know, without a question, that one rate applies to wherever and to whomever they call from within their coverage areas. "It's staying true to our service philosophy and being 'easy to buy and simple to use.'"
Edited by Ellen Jensen
Managing Editor, Wireless Networks Online