In Wake of T-Mobile Test Drive, Sprint Offers Its Own Free Trial Program

Barely a week after T-Mobile launched its seven-day test drive program, inviting consumers to “cheat” on their mobile providers, Sprint is getting into the act.

Sprint invited people to join a 30-day trial and experience its network, which has undergone a massive overhaul. The “satisfaction guaranteed” promotion, announced in a presentation at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, came without its rival’s sexually suggestive Twitter campaign.

T-Mobile’s provocative chief executive, John Legere, dubbed his carrier’s trial program a “Seven Night Stand.”

“You cheat on your carrier and it’s free,” Legere said. T-Mobile’s offer comes with an iPhone 5s that can be used for a week and then returned to any T-Mobile store. Sprint’s option is more like a money-back guarantee for new subscribers who sign up for service.

This bid to acquire new subscribers come at a time when Sprint and T-Mobile are the focus of merger attention. Reuters reported that Sprint has lined up eight banks to help finance a possible bid for T-Mobile — an acquisition the wire service valued at about $40 billion.

Legere declined specific comment on talks with Sprint last week, but talked up the benefits that a competitor like his could gain with added scale.

For Sprint, the 30-day trial reprises an earlier program that the company ended in 2011.

Sprint also used its Chicago event to talk up improvements and additions to its 4G LTE network, which is now available in 471 cities. Its higher speed Sprint Spark service, which touts average wireless speeds of six to 15 megabits per second — is now in 27 cities.

The carrier also unveiled the Galaxy S5 Sport, a more rugged version of the Samsung flagship designed to capitalize on growing interest in health and fitness. The device, similar to the Galaxy S5 Active for AT&T, comes with Sprint Fit Live, which includes 12 months of MapMyFitness MVP as well as fitness-oriented Spotify playlists. The device, which becomes available on July 25, can be purchased through Sprint’s Easy Pay plan for 24 monthly payments of $27.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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