• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Sprint Is First to Provide Business Customers With Standard Service Level Agreements for Wireless Services

Posted on: Monday, 9 August 2004, 06:00 CDT

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Sprint today announced a set of standard network-wide Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for wireless services for business customers -- a first in the telecommunications industry.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGO )

The new wireless SLAs will offer service credits to businesses with corporate-sponsored (or company-paid) wireless subscribers based on the performance of the enhanced Sprint Nationwide PCS Network. The SLAs provide commitments for voice service reliability based on measuring dropped calls, blocked calls and network voice availability.

"Our customers have spoken, and we are answering the call," said Kathy Walker, executive vice president - Network Services, Sprint. "Wireless services are an essential part of doing business, and our customers demand commitments that their service will be available when they need it. Our wireless network has a proven track record, and Sprint can deliver on this promise for our customers."

The new wireless SLAs provide the following:

-- Less than 2.00 percent voice blocks - If the national average wireless

voice blocks for the Sprint network is two percent or more during any

month, then the customer may be eligible for a service credit of

10 percent of the monthly recurring charge for the wireless services.

The call is said to be blocked if the customer can not successfully

place a call while within the Sprint PCS coverage area.

-- Less than 2.00 percent voice call drops - If the national average for

the wireless voice drops for the Sprint network is two percent or more

during any month, then the customer may be eligible for a service

credit of 10 percent of the monthly recurring charge for the wireless

services. A call is said to be dropped when a user experiences an

abnormal call release without either side manually ending the call

while within the Sprint PCS coverage area.

-- 99.9 Percent Wireless Network Voice Availability - If the national

average wireless network voice availability for the Sprint network

during any month is less than 99.9 percent, then the customer may be

eligible for a service credit of 10 percent of the monthly recurring

charge for the wireless services. The availability of all network

elements in the call path for wireless voice service determines the

overall service availability.

Sprint's wireless voice SLAs demonstrate the focus the company has recently placed on the total customer experience. Sprint created these SLAs to address feedback it received directly from our customers. Sprint commissioned an independent survey of more than 300 business customers and found that service availability, reliability and quality were the most important factors to businesses in selecting a wireless provider. The research also illustrated that SLAs addressing call blocks and call drops were most important. In fact, 88 percent of large businesses surveyed said that wireless SLAs would be an important factor in choosing a carrier.

"Wireless has become an important enabler for business and is an essential component of the overall communications technology strategy for enterprises," said David Willis, vice president at META Group, a leading provider of IT research, advisory services and strategic consulting. "There is no going back: as companies rely ever more on wireless services, they will demand better predictability and control, backed by commitments in their carrier contracts."

"The new wireless voice SLAs are not only an industry first, but they also represent the next step in the evolution of our growing SLA portfolio," Walker added. Sprint already offers world-class SLAs across its global data portfolio of services. Sprint service performance measures feature common metrics and contract language and enable Sprint to offer predictable high levels of service across its global data portfolio to companies that do business internationally.

Sprint will make its performance against these metrics available to customers in order to facilitate easy, efficient management. There may be exceptions to the SLAs in certain circumstances, such as natural disasters and force majeure events. A customer is within the Sprint PCS coverage area if they are not in roaming mode and the customer's phone displays at least one highlighted bar on the phone's screen.

About Sprint

Sprint is a global integrated communications provider serving more than 26 million customers in over 100 countries. With more than 61,000 employees worldwide and over $26 billion in annual revenues in 2003, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and an award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint provides local communications services in 39 states and the District of Columbia and operates the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless network in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.sprint.com/ .

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840

Sprint

CONTACT: Jeff Shafer of Sprint, +1-913-794-3614,jeff.s.shafer@mail.sprint.com

Web site: http://www.sprint.com/

More News in this Category