Sprint Finds a New Direction With GPS/Data Bundle

Sprint Nextel plans to start bundling in global positioning system (GPS) navigation with some of its wireless data services at no extra charge.

While GPS is becoming more common in cell phones and smartphones, carriers typically charge an extra fee for GPS-enabled services.

Sprint said that starting in April it will begin offering unlimited GPS navigation provided by TeleNav on some of its phones to customers of its $20 per month Sprint Power Vision Navigation pack. That bundle also comes with unlimited data access and Web browsing, the mobile version of Sprint's e-mail, and Sprint Radio and TV. Sprint will also offer unlimited use of the GPS navigation features to its Sprint Power Vision Ultimate Pack and Sprint Power Vision Business packs, each of which is priced at $25 per month.Sprint cell phone users that don't subscribe to those data packs--including subscribers with the $15 per month basic data plan--can access the navigation services on a per diem basis, $2.99 for 24 hour access.

The company said next month most of its Power Vision phones including the Motorola RAZR, and its Sprint Vision will be able to access the navigation services.

Navigation services from Sprint and TeleNav include spoken driving directions, up-to-the-minute traffic alerts, low-priced gas finder and trip planning. The navigation services will also feature capabilities like local search for restaurants and speech recognition, which will allow users to make voice requests for information rather than typing in a query.