Business News - Sprint ION Spreads Bundled Package to Four Areas

Posted: 09/2000

Sprint ION Spreads Bundled Package to Four Areas
By Bruce Christian

Businesses and residents in Los Angeles; Orange County, Calif.; Phoenix; and San Diego now can choose a service that gives them multiple telephone lines, videoconferencing, high-speed Internet connections, local and long-distance service over a single broadband connection.

Previously, Sprint ION, the integrated on-demand network of communication services, was introduced in Austin, Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas; Denver; Kansas City, Mo.; and Seattle. It expects to double the number of cities by the end of the year.

Sprint Corp.
(www.sprint.com) says the service is the only one that integrates high-speed Internet access with local and 750 minutes of long-distance calling services over a single converged network.

In a prepared statement announcing its expansion, Sprint’s National Consumer Organization president Bob Thompson says that because the product offers simultaneous use of multiple voice and data services, families no longer will have to vie for time online or to use the phone.

Sprint ION also lets consumers manage and control their
services–such as call waiting, caller ID, custom calling, call forwarding and voice messaging–to suit their individual needs.

The product includes unlimited high-speed Internet access with download speeds up to 8mbps, says Tim Donahue, Sprint’s director of broadband marketing. That is faster than the company’s fixed wireless option, Speed Choice, which delivers download speeds closer to 2mbps to 3mbps, sometimes reaching 5mbps.

Within the Internet options, Donahue says the product also provides for e-mail accounts and personal web hosting.

Donahue explains the service speed is attained because unlike the company’s current wireless broadband, Sprint ION is delivered through DSL.

Donahue also says Sprint realizes not everyone needs the entire package, which carries a price tag of $159 per month. Because of that, the company plans to make revisions down the road, which will strip out some offerings and make it more simplified and affordable to consumers who don’t want or need it all.