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NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Sprint Corp on Fridayjoined its three biggest rivals in offering an early upgradeoption for smartphones and promised cheaper fees than itscompetitors charge, in the latest sign of intensifyingcompetition in the U.S. wireless market.
Shares in Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile provider, fellalmost 3 percent because of concerns about its financialoutlook, which could be hurt by the service discount, analystssaid.
Sprint will allow customers who pay for their phones ininstallments to upgrade their devices every 12 months, insteadof the two years allowed under existing plans.
The company said customers participating in the new plan,called One Up, will pay $15 per month less than its standardservice fee for unlimited talk, texts and data.
It said customers choosing the upgrade option will pay up to$45 a month less in service fees than they would for comparableofferings from AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless .
Macquarie analyst Kevin Smithen reduced his estimate forSprint's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation andamortization (EBITDA) even before the new offering wasannounced, saying that previous expectations were "unrealistic."
In a research report Smithen said he cut his EBITDA estimateto $5 billion from $5.24 billion for 2013 and to $6 billion from$7.3 billion for 2014.
T-Mobile US, the No. 4 U.S. mobile provider,offered an upgrade plan earlier this year and Verizon Wirelessand AT&T followed suit in the summer. AT&T and Verizon have beencriticized for charging their customers too much.
All these installment plans are aimed at reducing carriercosts as well as satisfying consumers who do not want to waittwo years to upgrade.
Under Sprint's offering, customers buying the latest AppleInc device, the iPhone 5S, would pay a monthly fee of$27 for the device on top of a monthly service fee of $65, plustaxes and a one-time fee of $36 for device activation.
While comparison of Sprint's service plans to those of itscompetitors is impossible because of differences such as dataallowances and the number of devices supported, Sprint said its$65 monthly service fee most closely compares to $110 per monthplans at AT&T and Verizon.
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile US did not immediately providecomment on the Sprint offering.
The new Sprint plan was reported earlier this week but notconfirmed by the company until Friday.
Sprint shares fell 18 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $6.31 inmorning trade on the New York Stock Exchange after closing at$6.49 on Thursday. AT&T shares were down 1.5 percent, at $34.29,while Verizon stock was down 1.4 percent, at $47.81, andT-Mobile US shares were down 0.16 percent at $25.02, also onNYSE.
