New Carrier 'Republic Wireless' Coming Nov. 8; Unlimited Voice, Text & Data $19/Month

[dgstorm]

There is a new carrier coming very soon, and they aim to change the way we look at inexpensive cellphone carrier service. The company is called "Republic Wireless", a division of Cary, N.C.-based VoIP and bandwidth provider Bandwidth.com, and will be offering an unlimited voice, text and 3G data (with no bandwidth caps) plan for only $19 bucks a month! The way their system works, and the reason they can offer such ridiculously cheap pricing, is that their service is based upon something similar to Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology. It basically routes calls and texts over Wi-Fi networks when available, and when you’re outside of one, it then sends them over a standard cell network.

For those additional cell minutes, Republic Wireless will purchase minutes in bulk from Sprint to resell to its customers. Because of its Wi-Fi nature, this tech actually works internationally too. Furthermore, they will even offer Androids with specialized hardware to facilitate their service.

What do you guys think of this idea? Potentially disruptive tech, or mostly destined for mediocrity?

Source: BGR and RepublicWireless

 

[johnomaz]

So when they buy the minutes from the larger companies in bulk, do we have to buy them when we use them or does the unlimited voice cover that too? Or is the unlimited voice only there when you are on wifi.

 

[Detonation]

I think this is going to be a case of "you get what you pay for"

 

[otmlb1128]

My impression was that it's unlimited for the user at all times. This is actually a cool idea. I wonder how well it will work in practice.

 

[silverfang77]

Is it only available in NC, or will it be national?

Tappin' and talkin' with Tapatalk

 

[Bullitt6996]

Now that's what I'm talkin about!

It's nice to finally see a new carrier busting out of the same old same old, and give the market what so many have asked for, for so long now...This sounds like an excellent startup, but only time will tell what kind of tech will be available. If this company wants to take on the big service providers, they're gonna need some big guns, big customer service, and no "read the fine print" situations or word will spread and they will flop. I hope that we some good things from these guys, it would be a breath of fresh air.:biggrin:

 

[zodder]

I hope this takes off. That's one helluva price difference. The carriers are making money hand over fist and all we see are plan increases and caps

 

[Abadus]

This I'd the future. Data only phones and voice over IP.

I have been saying this for a long time.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[NoBloatware]

This could be really really cool and I'm excited by this technology. WIFI is used when available and then Sprint as a backup. My main worry would be that the coverage that WIFI + Sprint provides may not be as good as Verizon or AT&T. On the other hand, if you're somewhere (away from the city, out of the country, in a basement) that has no cell service but does have WIFI then you're golden. There would also probably be battery savings too as 3G is less efficient than WIFI.

Competition is a great thing and I'd love to try out this technology!

 

[Chizzele]

This is progress, if more carriers would break free of cell towers usage our bills would significantly drop. I use my phone for work, if that wasn't the case i would give this a try. For work this would need to prove its reliability first...

 

[ABQNM]

I wonder if it is pre-paid or post-paid and whether or not a contract is required... Might be interesting to try it out if there is no contract. I also wonder about wifi to cell hand-offs or if the call drops and you have to call again... That is the only thing I don't like about using wifi calling on my dinc2 is that I am using a separate VOIP for that so if I leave wifi I have to transfer the call manually to my cell phone number before I do.

Still sounds promising and look forward to Tuesday to hear what they have to offer in full.

 

[ABQNM]

At least they seem to be a fresh company with a sense of humor. Here is the email I got when I signed up for more info (I didn't add anything - the part in green was from them):

Hey!

We are republic wireless and we like you. Thank you for signing up to receive info on our top secret project, and as a reward you will receive an exclusive special offer on launch day, November 8.
Until then, keep outta trouble and please do tell your friends about us.

​

www.republicwireless.com​

Yours,
republic wireless
P.S. We will not sell your info to a wealthy Nigerian man​

 

[rubiksc00p]

I'm just hoping the big carriers will now follow suit and lower prices... And do VoIP. I guess there will be pretty good reception on cell too since it's Sprint, supposedly they're OK.

 

[ABQNM]

I'm just hoping the big carriers will now follow suit and lower prices... And do VoIP. I guess there will be pretty good reception on cell too since it's Sprint, supposedly they're OK.

VoIP over LTE is coming. I would bet by this time next year we will see it in use, probably for Verizon first.

 

[mcjonesy]

VoIP over LTE is coming. I would bet by this time next year we will see it in use, probably for Verizon first.

You're probably right, but I bet Big Red increases their prices because they can say "improved call quality" or some other nonsense.

My Verizon contract is almost up, and I'm probably going to be jumping ship. Maybe I'll check out Republic. Hopefully this idea works as well in practice as it does in theory.