Sprint says it has a new strategy in mind for its prepaid brand Virgin Mobile.
During a call with analysts today, Sprint execs said the company is de-emphasizing Virgin at the moment in favor of Boost Mobile, and has gone so far as to pull Virgin advertising ahead of a the new strategy’s debut. Sprint did not say what it plans to do with Virgin, though it did admit it is not pursuing the pre-paid space as aggressively as rivals Cricket and MetroPCS.
“You’ve got to figure out where do you want to fight and where do you want to grow,” said CEO Marcelo Claure. “We are keeping the customers that matter.” Claure also took the opportunity to reassure investors and customers that its network improvement plan will not be disruptive. “This is not a rip-and-replace strategy,” said Claure, calling the implementation a “progressive build” that will make changes for the better.
The company is expected to relocate some cell towers and make greater use of small/macro cells to densify its network. It may also shift some backhaul operations to microwave in order to cut down the fiber carriage fees it pays to AT&T and Verizon. Claure still believes Sprint can become the No. 1 or No. 2 network in terms of absolute performance in 80% of the country’s markets within two years.
