In my post on the flat-rate wireless plans being launched in the US recently, I suggested that Sprint might take the route of:

charging $99 or slightly more for a plan that would include unlimited voice and messaging and/or data usage.

I didn’t explain this at the time (although I seem to have been right I have no insider information here and it was still just an educated guess), but my thinking here was that Sprint would want to undercut the others, but would also want to do it in such a way that it kept ARPU high while providing for its growing base of unlimited data customers (both personal and business users).

By throwing everything into the package Sprint is going after the power users on all networks. But it is also effectively capping ARPU at $99, including data, which means it’s closed off the only real avenue to future growth, which is data revenue. The plan includes:

unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, Web-surfing, Sprint TV(SM), Sprint Music, GPS Navigation, Direct Connect(R) and Group Connect(R).

So almost every revenue-generating service Sprint has. For business users, there will still be the opportunity to sell additional productivity, horizontal and vertical applications, but it’s really maxed out for consumer users. Now, a $100 ARPU isn’t bad, and certainly a lot higher than Sprint’s current average, but who’s to say this is where the price will stay?

And since this was announced on the same day that Sprint suggested they will lose 1.2 million postpaid subscribers in the first quarter, it’s going to have to be a heck of a powerful shovel if Sprint’s going to dig its way out of that hole.

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