Power of Mobile Music Now More Accessible Than Ever to Sprint Customers

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sprint (NYSE:S) announced today that it is delivering customers powerful new pricing and offerings that will make mobile music easier and more affordable to enjoy than ever.

99 Cent Song Downloads

Beginning in early April, the Sprint Music Store will offer songs at $ 0.99 – the lowest rate available for over-the-air song downloads purchased in the United States. This price applies to every song in the Sprint Music Store’s library of more than 1.5 million songs.

The Sprint Music Store provides songs in virtually every genre from EMI Music, SONY BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group as well as thousands of independent labels distributed by Groove Mobile and IODA. Groove Mobile also powers the Sprint Music Store. The new per-song rate is available to Sprint customers with any Sprint Power Vision data plan.

New Music-Inclusive Data Plans

Sprint will soon begin offering two Power Vision data plans that focus particularly on music. The new Power Vision Access Pack will be available for $15 and will provide:

10 commercial-free radio channels from Sprint Radio, powered by mSpot,
exclusive video programming from Sprint Power View, including a weekly top-song countdown, breaking music news, tour information and artist interviews and performances and
songs at $ 0.99 each from the Sprint Music Store.

In addition to what the Power Vision Access Pack provides, the Power Vision Music Pack will cost an extra $5 (for a total of $20) and will offer:

another 40 channels of commercial-free radio channels from Sprint Radio (for a total of 50),
a channel from Sprint TV that features music videos, powered by MobiTV, including hip-hop, rock and alternative as well as flashbacks from the 80s and 90s and
songs at $ 0.99 each from the Sprint Music Store.

Both data plans will be available to Sprint customers in early April and will include unlimited data usage. The plans will also include unlimited use of several other non-music applications such as web browsing, Picture Mail and mobile email (casual usage charges would apply for access to these applications without a data plan).

Songs Each Week at No Additional Charge

The Sprint Music Store now delivers a variety of up to ten songs each week for no additional charge. The pre-selected songs can be found in the “Free Songs This Week” section of the Sprint Music Store, and they are provided through a partnership with independent music labels. This unique offering allows for the discovery of new music and demonstrates how simple, quick and entertaining the Sprint Music Store is to use.

Manage Music on PC, Transfer to Handset

The new Sprint Music Manager, powered by Smith Micro Software Inc. (NASDAQ:SMSI), allows songs to be quickly and simply transferred, or "sideloaded," from a PC to the mobile handset via a USB cable. It also enables digital music to be managed all in one place on the PC through an intuitive interface. The Sprint Music Manager software will be included on a CD-ROM with the new UpStage by Samsung and will soon be available for download on additional Sprint music-centric devices.

“Sprint believes that mobile music should be within the reach of all our customers. That’s why we offer a wide range of music applications across a large selection of handsets, including the new UpStage by Samsung. And it’s also why we are introducing new 99-cent song downloads, music-filled data plans, free-download incentives and convenient services such as the Sprint Music Manager,” said John Burris, vice president of wireless data, Sprint.

The UpStage by Samsung is Sprint’s newest exclusive music-centric device. It is the first wireless handset in the United States designed with the look of a phone on one side and an MP3 player on the other. The UpStage by Samsung will be available in early April. For more information, see today’s joint announcement from Sprint and Samsung.

In addition to the UpStage by Samsung, Sprint offers several phones with a wide variety of music services, including the Sprint Music Store. Eight of these handsets are currently available for $99 or less when purchased with a two-year service agreement.

The Sprint Music Store was the first service in the United States to deliver over-the-air song downloads. The Sprint Music Store enables customers to browse, preview and purchase songs while on the go anywhere on Sprint’s nationwide mobile broadband network. It also allows songs to be purchased via the PC at www.sprint.com/digitallounge. Customers are able to receive two copies of the song – one for their phone and another for their PC.

About Sprint Music

Sprint continually provides wireless data services that are first, better and unique, and Sprint’s music offerings are a distinct example of this leadership. Sprint was presented with the “Best U.S. Mobile Music Carrier” award at the 2006 Digital Music Conference last November, and Sprint was the first U.S. mobile carrier to provide:

a service that allows full-length songs to be downloaded over the air via the Sprint Music Store
live streaming video and audio of a full-length rock concert (Bon Jovi) as well as a Latin rock concert (MANÁ)
a made-for-mobile-video programming network, Sprint Power View, which includes several music-focused shows
streaming music (and Sprint now offers more than a dozen applications with streaming music, including Sprint Radio, SIRIUS Music and Rhapsody Radio)
video ringers, which play clips from music videos instead of a traditional ring
ringers that sound like actual song recordings via Music Tones

To learn more about Sprint’s music leadership, visit: www.sprint.com/musicpresskit.

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 is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving 53.1 million customers at the end of 2006; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and an award-winning and global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.