Sprint has revealed its forecast for the rate of customers who will unsubscribe from the wireless carrier in the final quarter of 2017, projecting that number to be lower compared to the figure recorded in the same period last year, as the company’s promotional campaigns have taken a more aggressive approach over the last couple of months. According to the carrier’s prediction, the number of customers leaving Sprint is expected to rise 15 basis points in the fourth quarter of the year. In contrast, the number of customers who defected from the company during the same period last year increased by 20 basis points, according to Sprint Chief Financial Officer Tarek Robbiati who spoke on the matter at a recent UBS media conference.
Robbiati said the company is taking every step to identify its churn causes by analyzing every market and addressing all problems that lead to customer defection. Sprint recently tried retaining more customers through a wide variety of promotions, including the Unlimited Freedom Plan announced in February. That promotion includes unlimited data, talk, and text, as well as high-resolution video streaming. The unlimited promotion has also been offering mobile hotspots with up to 10GB per line since March. For new subscribers, Sprint is offering the Unlimited HD plan to let customers experience the carrier’s network with minimal costs. For customers already subscribed to the premium video plan, the Unlimited HD plan is free.
In April, Sprint also started offering five Unlimited Freedom lines for the price of four as part of a broader effort to make the plan more appealing to existing and new customers, offering a discount of $20 per month or $240 per year. Last June, Sprint unveiled a promotion meant to attract new customers to its network by offering a year of free unlimited data, text, and calls, provided their phone supports the carrier’s network. The promotion was available without an activation fee, making it a particularly attractive offer. These and other promotions have significantly contributed to the anticipated slowdown of Sprint’s customer churn rate this holiday quarter, and the carrier is expected to introduce more similar initiatives going forward.