Sprint unleashes 'Pokémon Go' lures at its retail stores to attract players

Sprint, the fourth largest wireless carrier in the U.S., is capitalizing on the Pokémon Go craze.

Following T-Mobile's announcement that its U.S. customers will be able to play Pokémon Go for a year without any of the data counting towards their monthly plans, Sprint has laid out its own monster-catching incentives.

Starting on Friday, Sprint will use "lures" (an item in the game that attracts Pokémon to a specific location) at its retail stores and at Boost Mobile shops to entice players to come catch monsters. Retail staff will also provide tips and tricks on how to play the game. And, presumably, make some sales.

"We welcome Pokémon Go players to visit their local Sprint and Boost Mobile stores to capture some of the monsters in town," said Roger Sole, Sprint's chief marketing officer, in a press release. "Our knowledgeable staff will help you download the game on your phone, explain how it’s played, locate PokéStops in the area and even provide a power up for your device so game players can continue their adventures fully charged."

While it's not quite as sweet a deal as T-Mobile's, Sprint is betting the tactic will not only attract foot traffic to its stores, but also get people to buy devices and accessories and sign up for data plans.

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T-Mobile's singling out of Pokémon Go is a great proposition for fans of the craze. But it has drawn criticism from those in support of net neutrality, which prevents any one internet provider or content source from being favored over another.

Net neutrality, after all, is what keeps the Internet open and free for everyone. T-Mobile, however, has yet to face any ramifications from the divisive move.

T-Mobile has catapulted itself to becoming the U.S.'s third largest wireless carrier (following Verizon, then AT&T) with its Uncarrier initiatives like Music Freedom and Binge On. Those allow customers to listen to select music services and watch videos throttled down to 480p resolution from popular services like Spotify, YouTube and Netflix without any of the LTE data counting towards their data plans.

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