Sprint Scales Back Free Friday Calls Offer

Sprint Corp. said Thursday that it has modified its program that offered small businesses free domestic and international calls every Friday after it saw an 800% increase in calling volume to nine countries.

“We reached a point at the end of March where there were nine specific countries where service could be compromised if we didn’t take some actions,” said Robin Loyed, director of small-business market development at Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. long-distance company.

The promotion, which began Jan. 2, gave small-business customers free domestic and international calls on Fridays if they spent $50 a month or more on long-distance calls.

Sprint withdrew the offer on international calls to nine countries--Bolivia, China, Ecuador, India, Iran, Israel, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand--after the volume of calls to these countries soared 800% under the promotion.

Now, Sprint only offers small businesses that call those nine countries a discount of 25%, regardless of time or day.

Loyed declined to say how many customers have signed up for Fridays Free. He would only say that the response exceeded the company’s expectations “three-fold.”

Sprint’s Friday promotion, designed only for business customers, was also offered to a few hundred residential customers in error. Sprint has since withdrawn that offer to consumers. Some residential customers, irked by the change, have chosen to switch to another long-distance carrier, Loyed said.

For small businesses, Sprint has also offered customers a discount program that encourages customers to use a toll-free 888 number service. Under the promotion, Sprint offers to give businesses their money back if within six months they don’t feel the 888 number has added value to their business.