Sprint is planning to give customers on its unlimited data plans free subscriptions to the Hulu streaming video service.
The move will help Sprint match T-Mobile’s (TMUS) free Netflix give away and AT&T’s (T) free HBO bundle for its unlimited customers, according to Jeff Moore, Principal of Wave7 Research, which uncovered the upcoming Sprint offer. Sprint declined to comment.
After almost a year of fierce competition over wireless service prices, the carriers have lately engaged a war over freebies and discounts on phones. Sprint’s (S) Hulu deal would follow the carrier’s trade-in offer giving away free iPhones as well as a promotion charging just $90 for five lines of unlimited data service.
“Sprint is planning to include TV shows from Hulu with its unlimited plans,” Wave7 said in a research report. “Dealers have been told that this is ‘coming soon.’ There will be one subscription per account and it will be described as a $7.99 value.”
Hulu is the third-largest subscription Internet video service after Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon’s (AMZN) Prime Video, analysts say. It is owned by major TV producers Disney (DIS), 21st Century Fox (FOX), Comcast (CMCSA), and Time Warner (TWX).
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Once Sprint starts the Hulu deal, Verizon (VZ) will be the only major carrier that doesn’t offer its unlimited subscribers a free video service. In mid-September, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said that he’d have a major content deal to announce by month-end for both wireless and Fios wired Internet customers. But weeks later, the carrier has not announced anything yet.
Sprint (S) already offers customers six months of free access to the Tidal streaming music service.