'Bring Your Own Bandwidth' Means a Future of Ultra-Cheap Calls
nmedia/Shutterstock.com
Republic Wireless is selling a phone that will carry out all of its functions over WiFi.
Republic Wireless—”the mobile network that runs on freedom”—will sell people in the US unlimited voice, texting and data for $20 a month, full stop. Those kind of prices might be common in, say, India (albeit at much slower speeds) but they’re unheard of in the US, outside of carriers that are limited to a particular city.
The way Republic Wireless accomplishes this feat is by selling a phone that carries out all of its functions over WiFi networks, whenever they’re available. Since most calls happen at home, work or other places where we are already accessing WiFi, goes the logic, that bandwidth can essentially be used for free.