UPDATE: Sprint To Sell Prepaid-Wireless Service At Wal-Mart

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) will launch a pay-by-the-minute wireless plan through Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) as the carrier looks to further strengthen its prepaid position with the launch of a second new offering in as many weeks.

Common Cents Mobile will go after consumers who sporadically use their cellphones. The service, which will launch on Saturday, will charge 7 cents a minute for calls and the same amount for text messages.

The service marks the latest prepaid offering by Sprint, which is looking at the low end to make up for the losses from its more lucrative contract business. Under Dan Schulman, who joined Sprint when his Virgin Mobile USA was acquired late last year, the company has launched multiple brands catering to different markets, highlighting the growing strength and clout of the prepaid market in the wireless industry.

Common Cents will benefit from the considerable reach and influence of Wal-Mart, which plans to carry the service in more than 700 stores.

Sprint touts an exclusive round-down feature where the amount of minutes billed per call won't round up to the nearest minute. For example, a call that goes 1:46 will only cost 7 cents. The basic phones for the service will cost between $20 and $70. Consumers can use phone cards or pay online through a credit card or PayPal account.

"In recent months, consumers seeking no-frills, pay-by-the-minute plans have been somewhat overlooked with the popularity of unlimited plans in the market," Schulman said.

Common Cents is part of Wal-Mart's push to offer more "connected" consumer electronics devices, such as connected Blu-ray players and high-definition TVs, more cellphones and other mobile broadband options.

In some Wal-Mart stores, Common Cents will sit alongside a rival prepaid service, Straight Talk, which is sold through America Movil S.A.B. de C.V.'s (AMX) Tracfone Wireless and runs on Verizon Wireless's network.

Last week, Sprint unveiled a data-centric wireless plan through its Virgin Mobile brand that costs $25 for unlimited texting, e-mail and mobile Internet, along with 300 minutes. Another option, for $40, gives the user 1,200 minutes, while users can get unlimited minutes for $60.

While the prepaid plans offer less revenue per customer, there are fewer costs because they lack phone subsidies or extensive customer service of the core postpaid offering.

Sprint has been the most aggressive national carrier in prepaid, but the other carriers are moving to capitalize on the shifting trends. Verizon Wireless, which is jointly owned by Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Vodafone Group PLC (VOD, VOD.LN), has expanded its wholesale agreements, which include Straight Talk, while Deutsche Telekom AG's (DT, DTE.XE) T-Mobile USA has launched several no-contract plans in the past few months. AT&T Inc. (T) has looked to connecting non-cellphone devices. All are dealing with declining growth in their traditional postpaid businesses.

Sprint shares rose 3.6% to $4.30 in early trading.

-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2153; roger.cheng@dowjones.com

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