Sprint is offering to cut Verizon and AT&T defectors’ bills in half

Sprint, an Overland Park-based telecommunications company whose new Tokyo-based parent company maybe wants to move it to Silicon Valley, is struggling. New CEO Marcelo Claure, hired in September to replace outgoing Dan Hesse, is trying to turn the ship around, following a failed merger attempt with T-Mobile. It’s an uphill climb: Last year, the company was rated the worst service provider in the nation by Consumer Reports. And last quarter, Sprint lost 272,000 subscribers and about $192 million. The Framily thing didn’t go so hot, either. 

So far, Claure has been battling these harsh realities primarily by laying off workers. The company recently announced cuts to about 2,000 positions, roughly half of them local employees. The Kansas City Business Journal reports that Sprint now employs only 6,300 people locally. There are about 10,000 fewer people working for Sprint now than there were two years ago.

Today comes word that Sprint is going on the offensive with some attractive discounts designed to lure subscribers away from Verizon and AT&T, which together have about 70 percent of U.S. cellphone market share. 

The gist: Starting this Friday, December 5, any current Verizon or AT&T customer who wants to switch to Sprint can receive a gift card redeemable for up to $350 to cover the costs of a new phone and early termination penalties. All you have to do is bring a copy of a current Verizon or AT&T bill as proof. (T-Mobile customers are not eligible.)

But wait, there’s more! The customer service reps will then examine your current bill and offer you a similar plan, from Sprint, for half the price. They’re calling it the “Cut Your Bill in Half” deal. The half-price discount runs for the life of the plan, but there’s no word on how long the promotion will run. There is, as you might imagine, a great deal of fine print. More here.