Embracing Innovation

© 2014 Sprint. This information is subject to Sprint policies regarding use and is the property of Sprint and/or its relevant affiliates and may contain restricted, confidential or privileged materials intended for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any review, use, distribution or disclosure is prohibited without authorization.

mbracing Innovation

Director at Ting Believes Innovation Helped Lead to Success

Ting is a Toronto-based MVNO that uses Sprint’s CDMA and LTE networks.

Noticing mobile’s lack of competition and customer frustration with bad service and unfair prices, Ting launched in 2012. Ting’s founders were Tucows, an Internet services and telecommunications company, launched Ting in 2012, banking on the idea that customers were ready for innovation, said Scott Allan, Director of Ting. Ting wasn’t the only company looking to disrupt the industry.

Scott Allan, Director at Ting, credits Sprint with helping them bring their new business model to market with all the support they received from the carrier.

Sprint Embraces MVNO Innovation“When you look at some other MVNOs that have done innovation around the same time, there was sort of Renaissance,” said Allan, who credits Sprint with being a major part of the change. “If you look at MVNOs in North America, the more innovative MVNOs are on the Sprint network, and

that’s because Sprint, as a company, embraces that and supports it.”

Unlike many larger mobile companies, Ting doesn’t subsidize phone sales or require long-term contracts. Pricing is never bundled, so the company’s 70,000 customers only pay for what they use.

The Wireless Industry Is Ready for DisruptionAlthough Tucows was always looking for new markets to enter, wireless previously had seemed too much of a challenge.

“We look at hundreds of different (markets) and enter very few,” Allan said. “But at some point wireless went from looking at being way too difficult and not having what we’d need to be able to innovate to seeming like it was worth exploring.”

The lack of competition was too intriguing to pass up, said Allan, who pointed out that the “The big two” had an unhealthy amount of market share, which is often a sign that an industry is ready for disruption.

“We started talking to carriers to see what we could fashion — if there was an opportunity there — and as it turns out there was,” Allan said.

No Stronger Foundation Than Well-Served CustomersBecause Ting prides itself on offering fairer billing structures and catering to all its customers, it considers some of its customer service expenditures as a marketing expense. The company embraces the answer-the-phone-directly customer service model, which Allan admits, can be expensive but is totally worth the cost.

“It helps customers rave to their friends about the ‘shocking’ experience at Ting,” Allan said. “We don’t look at customer calls as something we want to eliminate, but as an opportunity to delight a customer and have them be a brand advocate.”

For more information on creating a successful MVNO, contact your Sprint Wholesale sales consultant or check out wholesale.sprint.com.

Embracing Innovation

© 2014 Sprint. This information is subject to Sprint policies regarding use and is the property of Sprint and/or its relevant affiliates and may contain restricted, confidential or privileged materials intended for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any review, use, distribution or disclosure is prohibited without authorization.

“If you look at MVNOs in North America, the more innovative MVNOs are on the Sprint network”

“Sprint was able to bridge the gap and work with us. It wasn’t something we found anywhere else.”

Scott Allan Director of Ting