Sprint and Walmart launch Common Cents prepaid wireless

Sprint feels the noose slowly starting to tighten as it bleeds subscribers at a startling rate. The company is looking for anything to stem the subscriber losses and has announced a new prepaid wireless program that will be exclusively sold through Walmart locations called Common Cents Mobile.

The big features of the plan are 7-cent text messages and 7-cent per minute mobile calls with minutes that round down. That means if you are on a call for a 1 minute and 46 seconds you are only hit for a minute of charges. The 7-cents per text message price still seems expensive, my wife could blow through a huge amount of money in a month with that pricing.

The handsets offered with the plan are basic devices with voice mail, texting, and calling for customers concerned about cost. Examples are the LG101 at $19.77 and the Samsung M340 at $39.77. Prepaid cards for the plan sell for $20 for a refill card with 30 days of service and 565 voice minute or for $30 you get 60 days of service and 848 minutes of talk. Unlimited messaging can be added for another $20 monthly.