Ting: Bad Name, Great Idea

4:20 PM -- Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S)'s new MVNO Ting may share its name with an antifungal creme, but its pricing strategy may help scratch what's been itching the wireless industry.

Global Internet services company Tucows launched the brand, named after a Jamaican beverage, on Thursday. Ting's contract-free plans let customers share their voice, text and data minutes across the devices they own. This is an idea the U.S. wireless operators have tossed around quite a bit and one that policy vendors like Tekelec are rooting for, but so far no big player has taken the plunge. (See New Data Plans Keep It in the Family .)

Ting, not to be confused with the orange drink Tang, lets you pick from plans ranging from XS to XXL based on how much voice, text and data you think you'll use across all your, or your family's, devices. Each device added to the plan is an extra $6 per month. If you go over, Ting charges you the difference. If you stay under, you get a credit. Oh, and they'll throw in a free mobile hot spot too. It's a win-win. (See New Twists in Mobile Data Pricing .)

Ting will have some challenges (besides its suspiciously similar name to the English musical duo the Ting Tings): its device selection is fairly limited and its phones are unsubsidized. But, it's a smart approach that I hope the larger operators in the U.S. will soon follow.

Let's just hope these shirts aren't part of Ting's marketing strategy…

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile