Republic Wireless has brought its $19/month unlimited plan out of beta, offering the first compatible smartphone for pre-order.
Republic Wireless reports that its mobile plan for $19 per month is finally out of beta. For the price, users supposedly get unlimited text, talk and data over Wi-Fi and cellular (plus taxes). There are no contracts, no overages and no hidden fees, and there isn't even an early termination fee if a member chooses to cancel the service.
The first compatible phone for the Republic Wireless plan is the dual-band Motorola DEFY XT which is now available for pre-order. The dual-band aspect means the phone will make calls on a Wi-Fi network when it is available, and on Sprint's cellular network when it is not. Customers can purchase up to four Motorola devices which will begin shipping in mid-December.
"You can pre-order your dual-band DEFY XT today for $249 plus a $10 start-up fee and applicable taxes. Your start-up fee includes shipping and handling," said Jim Mulcahy, EVP & GM, Republic Wireless. "Your first $19 monthly membership will be charged when your phone ships. Don't forget, we'll continue to offer a 30-day money back guarantee so you can join republic with no risk."
The Motorola DEFY XT features a 3.7-inch display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, a 1 GHz SoC, 512 GB of RAM, and 1 GB of internal storage. There's also a microSD card for adding an additional 32 GB, a 5MP camera on the back and a front-facing webcam, 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity, Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" and more.
"We’ve come a long way over the past year and we couldn’t have done it without the support and great feedback from our community full of people like you," Mulcahy said. "Together, we’ve set a new bar for mobile and we’re thrilled that you’re part of this journey with us. We’ll continue to improve the republic experience, so please keep your feedback coming."
Republic Wireless announced its plans to launch a $19/month unlimited plan back in November 2011. The company said that unlike cellular spectrum, wireless is ubiquitous and cheap, and should be used instead of the more costly cellular alternative. That led to the development of its Hybrid Calling tech which routes everything over Wi-Fi when possible.
"We hold this to be self-evident: that the best, fastest, and highest-value network is the Wi-Fi you already have in your home and office," said David Morken, co-founder and CEO of republic wireless’ parent company, Bandwidth.com. "We believe that most smartphones should be communicating over Wi-Fi natively, and only using cellular spectrum if needed, not all the time."
For more information about getting started with Republic Wireless, head here.
Can't argue with that. I hope, however, they have an override function in case of a marginal WIFI signal so you can instantly switch to cellular mode.
This could free up some bandwidth especially in the congested downtown areas of our cities.
They also use the competition's network....
"As long as you play nice, and try to use Wi-Fi as much as you can"
sounds more like a cordless phone than a cell phone
no wifi nonsense, bring your own phone.