Common Cents Mobile rounds minutes down in pay-as-you-go plan

Great news for the roughly 35 million prepaid or pay-as-you-go cell phone users who are looking for cheap pay-as-you-go calling. Sprint and Walmart announced a new prepaid brand called Common Cents Mobile, which offers calls at 7 cents a minute with the usage rounding down. The new value oriented service is aimed at users who need a cell phone for safety or convenience, but don't want to waste money.

The straightforward, per minute pricing is competitive and welcome to the pay-as-you-go wireless market, but it's the Round Down minutes that set the Common Cents Mobile apart from prepay competitors.

"When you talk say for one minute and 46 seconds, most carriers round that up to two minutes when they are charging you by the minute, but we'll round it down to a minute." Neil Lindsay, CMO for Sprint Prepaid, told WalletPop in a phone interview, adding that the combination of a 7 cents a minute plan, 7 cents a text message and the Round Down feature make Common Cents a "very straightforward value."