Sprint and its no-contract brand Boost Mobile receive the highest rankings in J.D. Power and Associates Wireless Purchase Experience

Sprint ranks highest for fourth consecutive period among full-service carriers

Boost Mobile ranks highest among non-contract carriers

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sprint (NYSE: S) and its no-contract brand Boost Mobile continue to solidify their positions as leaders in customer satisfaction by receiving the highest honors from J.D. Power and Associates, most recently in the 2013 U.S. Full-Service and Non-Contract Wireless Purchase Experience Study^SM, Volume 1.

“We are honored to be recognized by our postpaid and no-contract customers in the J.D. Power and Associates study”

Sprint today received its fourth consecutive highest ranking among Full-Service Wireless Providers, while Boost Mobile received the highest ranking for Non-Contract Providers for the third time in the last four study releases, making it Boost’s fifth J.D. Power and Associates award overall. The Wireless Purchase Experience Study evaluates the wireless purchase experience of customers using any one of three contact channels: phone calls with sales representatives; visits to a retail wireless store; and transactions on the Web.

Overall customer satisfaction with both full-service and non-contract branded carriers is based on six factors (in order of importance): store sales representative; website; phone sales representative; store facility; offerings and promotions; and cost of service.

• Sprint ranked highest in Overall Purchase Experience Satisfaction with an index score of 778 – significantly higher than the full service average of 764.
• Sprint ranked highest in five of six factors including Store Sales Representative, Website, Facility, Offerings and Promotions, and Cost of Service.
• Sprint ranked significantly above the full service average in three of six factors – Facility, Offerings and Promotions, and Cost of Service.
• Boost Mobile is the highest ranked non-contract carrier with an overall Purchase Experience Satisfaction index score of 773, significantly above the non-contract average of 755.
• Boost Mobile is the highest ranked in three of the six factors, including the Website, Phone Sales Representatives, and Offerings and Promotions factors.

Wireless Purchase Experience Study Results demonstrate Sprint’s sharpened focus on retail experience improvements -- from improved service and repair care to better merchandising and more accessory availability. Improvements to the Ready Now program, for example, represent one way that Sprint is concentrating on making the in-store wireless purchase process simpler for customers. With Ready Now, Sprint retail associates work one-on-one with customers to personalize their phones, set up all of its features, and demonstrate how it works before they leave the store.

Among other purchase experience improvements, Sprint has:

• Improved integration of sales channels, giving customers a simpler path from selecting their phones online to picking them up in store.
• Increased the number of in-store accessories and device add-ons to extend the possibilities of Sprint devices for customers.
• Added more tools that better enable Sprint retail store employees to ensure new customers understand the features of their device and how they will be billed right at the point-of-sale.
• Improved in-store, full-service triage and repair to reduce the need to send phones out for repair.
• Added solutions kiosks in stores to help customers – especially businesses – find and develop customized solutions alongside expertly trained consultants from Sprint.

“We are honored to be recognized by our postpaid and no-contract customers in the J.D. Power and Associates study,” said Jaime Jones, Sprint senior vice president-Consumer Sales. “This is the culmination of a lot of hard work by our retail employees, Web sales teams, telesales group and many others in Sprint’s Sales and Distribution organization. Our commitment all along has been to deliver the best customer experience, the most complete portfolio of products and merchandise, and Ready Now-type customer service from the most talented, best-trained people in the business.”

Boost Mobile continues to grow as an industry leader, combining the reliability of the Nationwide Sprint Network with a robust device portfolio, all on unlimited service plans that reward customers with no contracts and payments that shrink over time. Unique from the competition, for every six on-time payments, the cost of Boost Mobile’s Monthly Unlimited plans shrink by $5, up to $15 per month in total. Payments do not need to be consecutive to qualify for the next saving milestone.

Among other purchase experience improvements, Boost Mobile has:

• Launched 10 new devices including the Samsung Galaxy S® II 4G and the Kyocera Hydro, becoming the first no-contract waterproof smartphone
• Enhanced customers’ data experience with the launch of 4G (WiMAX) data and Wi-Fi hotspot capabilities, delivering a data experience that keeps pace with the continued growth in how customers are leveraging smartphones to increase productivity
• Improved handset insurance by extending the sign up period to 30 days after the point of purchase and provided customers with an open enrollment period in 2012 for any Boost customer that may have missed the opportunity to protect their investment
• Enhanced international service plans with reduced per minutes rates to more than 200 destinations
• Provided a handset buyback program to offer service credits to new customers for turning in their older handset, regardless of device type or carrier.

This industry customer survey confirms the overall customer satisfaction with the Boost Mobile retail experience, device selection and service plans when compared to other no contract carriers. Boost Mobile has ranked highest in J.D. Power studies including Non-Contract Wireless Purchase Experience Study (2012 Volume 1), Customer Care Performance and Purchase Experience (2011 Volume 2) among non-contract customers, and Non-Contract Customer Satisfaction (2011).

About J.D. Power and Associates

With headquarters in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company providing performance improvement, social media and customer satisfaction insights and solutions. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 55 million customers at the end of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, during the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

About Boost Mobile

Boost Mobile, recently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as “Highest Satisfaction with the Purchase Experience among Non-Contract Wireless Providers,” offers wireless phones and services with no long-term contracts and. Boost Mobile redefines value for wireless consumers with its Monthly Unlimited with Shrinking Payments no-contract service, where the longer you stay the less you pay with on-time payments for unlimited voice, text messaging, Web, email and calls to 411. Boost Mobile offers nationwide service on the Nationwide Sprint Network, reaching more than 282 million people, with no activation or long-distance fees. Boost Mobile offers a selection of quality handsets from HTC, LG, Motorola, BlackBerry, Samsung, Kyocera and ZTE, ranging from entry-level to Android™ smartphone devices available nationwide at nearly 20,000 major retail stores, including Best Buy, RadioShack, Target, Family Dollar, Walgreens and Walmart, Sprint retail stores, independent wireless dealer locations, and on HSN, a leading TV home shopping network. Re-Boost^® Cards are available at approximately 100,000 locations throughout the United States. Experience Boost Mobile on the Web at Facebook and Twitter; and purchase products at www.boostmobile.com.