Sprint kills One Up in favor of Framily Plan
One Up, which allowed customers to pay for their phone over 24 months and upgrade after a year, was retired after just four months.
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Well, that was quick.
Sprint made short work of its One Up plan, retiring it last week in favor of its newly introduced Framily Plan. Sprint's site confirmed that One Up was retired last Thursday.
One Up was an early upgrade and monthly installment plan that allowed customers to pay for their devices over 24 monthly payments, as well as upgrade their device early by trading it in after a year. The program was a response to the early upgrade programs introduced first by T-Mobile, then copied by AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
One Up, which was introduced in September, appeared to offer a better deal than even T-Mobile's program. But Sprint has had trouble winning over customers in recent quarters because of the delays in its network upgrade program and the lower data speeds it can offer in many markets.
During the Consumer Electronics Show, Sprint introduced its Framily, which allows subscribers to add friends and family members to the plan to get a price break. The more customers that are added to the plan, the bigger the savings. It's the carrier's latest push to provide an incentive to new customers to switch over.
T-Mobile countered the following day by announcing it would pay off a customer's early termination fee, underscoring the competitive landscape of the industry.
CNET has contacted Sprint to find out why One Up was retired so quickly, and we'll update the story when the company responds.