Sprint - Nextel 2010 Annual Report Download - page 26

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
OVERVIEW
Business Strategies and Key Priorities
Sprint is a communications company offering a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications
products and services that are designed to meet the needs of individual consumers, businesses, government subscribers and
resellers. The communications industry has been and will continue to be highly competitive on the basis of price, the types of
services and devices offered and the quality of service. As discussed below in “Effects on our Wireless Business of Postpaid
Subscriber Losses,” the Company has experienced significant losses of subscribers in the critical postpaid wireless market since
the third quarter 2006, but, as a result of steps taken to attract and retain such subscribers, has reduced net subscriber losses
beginning in 2009.
Our business strategy is to be responsive to changing customer mobility demands by being innovative and
differentiated in the marketplace. Our future growth plans and strategy revolve around achieving the following three key
priorities:
• Improve the customer experience;
• Strengthen our brands; and
• Generate operating cash flow.
We have reduced confusion over pricing plans and complex bills with our Simply Everything® and Everything Data
plans and our Any Mobile AnytimeSM feature that offer savings compared to our competition. In addition to savings offered to
consumers, Business Advantage pricing plans are available to our business subscribers who can also take advantage of Any
Mobile AnytimeSM with certain plans. To simplify and improve the customer experience, we introduced the Sprint Free
Guarantee, which gives any customer opening a new line of service the chance to try Sprint for 30 days for free (excluding
overages and premium services not included in price plans). In addition, we have continued to offer Ready Now, which trains
our customers before they leave the store on how to use their mobile devices. For our business customers, we aim to increase
their productivity by providing differentiated services that utilize the advantages of combining IP networks with wireless
technology. This differentiation enables us to acquire and retain both wireline, wireless and combined wireline-wireless
subscribers on our networks. We have also continued to focus on further improving customer care. We implemented initiatives
that are designed to improve call center processes and procedures, and standardized our performance measures through various
metrics, including customer satisfaction ratings with respect to customer care, first call resolution and calls per subscriber.
Our product strategy is to provide our customers with a broad array of device selections and applications and services
that run on these devices to meet the growing needs of customer mobility. Our multi-functional device portfolio includes
devices such as the Samsung Epic 4G Android™ device, which can also act as a mobile hotspot for up to five wireless fidelity
(WiFi) enabled devices and the world's first 3G/4G Android™ device, the HTC EVO™ 4G, which can also act as a mobile
hotspot for up to eight WiFi enabled devices. Our portfolio also includes the Motorola i1 which is the world's first Direct
Connect® Android-powered smartphone. Other devices in our portfolio are the HTC Hero™ and the Samsung Moment™ with
Google™, the BlackBerry 8530 and BlackBerry® Bold™, the Samsung Seek™, the Rumor Touch from LG and the Touch Pro 2
from HTC. Our mobile broadband device portfolio consists of devices such as the Overdrive™ 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot, which
allows the connection of up to five WiFi enabled devices, the Sprint 4G USB U1901 and the Ovation™ U760 by Novatel
Wireless. We support the open development of applications and content on our network platforms. We also enable a variety of
third-party providers, location-based services and business and consumer product providers through our machine-to-machine
initiative. The machine-to-machine initiative incorporates selling, marketing, product development and operations resources to
address growing non-traditional data needs, which covers a wide variety of products and services including remote monitoring,
telematics, in-vehicle devices, e-readers, specialized medical devices and other original equipment manufacturer devices.
Our prepaid portfolio launched additional brands in the second quarter 2010. Sprint's prepaid portfolio currently
includes four brands, each designed to appeal to specific customer segments. Boost Mobile serves customers who are voice and
text messaging-centric with its popular $50 Monthly Unlimited plan with Shrinkage service where bills are reduced after six
on-time payments. Virgin Mobile serves customers who are device and data-oriented with Beyond Talk™ plans and our
broadband plan, Broadband2Go, that offer consumers control, flexibility and connectivity through various communication
vehicles. Assurance Wireless provides eligible customers, who meet income requirements or are receiving government
assistance, with a free wireless phone and 250 free minutes of national local and long-distance monthly service. Common
CentsSM Mobile caters to budget-conscious customers with 7-cent minutes that Round Down™ and 7-cent text messages.
Sprint has focused its wholesale business as a reseller of new converged services that leverage the Sprint network but
are sold under the wholesaler's brand by providing a suite of integrated and customizeable value-added solutions focused on
assisting our customers to improve their business. We have adopted new pricing models, made it easier for our wholesalers to
acquire access and resell our services by bundling wireless and wireline services and focused our attention to partners with
existing distribution channels. In addition, we have strengthened our sales efforts and expanded to new markets in the rapidly
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