With AT&T’s pending purchase of T-Mobile USA threatening to push Sprint into a very distant third place in the wireless wars, the cell phone company is offering to put its money where its mouth is (or something like that) by offering $125 service credits to new customers who defect from other carriers.

To be more accurate, it’s a $125 service credit to ship-jumpers who enroll in a Sprint smartphone plan. Just-phone customers get $50 in credit while business customers get $175.

According to the Wall Street Journal, this promotion, which ends June 23, is aimed at the T-Mobile subscribers who aren’t exactly pleased about becoming AT&T customers.

“We recognize there’s a little bit of uncertainty in the marketplace, especially for T-Mobile customers,” a Sprint rep tells the paper.

At last week’s Senate Subcommittee hearing on the AT&T/T-Mobile deal Sprint CEO Dan Hesse admitted that his company would likely become a takeover Target if that merger is approved.

2nd UPDATE: Sprint Offers Credit To Lure Outside Customers [WSJ.com]

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