When Republic Wireless announced its $19-a-month hybrid Wi-Fi/cellular phone service last month, I found it intriguing –but I also couldn’t figure out why the company kept calling it “unlimited” when it had a policy to (eventually) boot customers who used too much cellular. It was really “Unlimited Wi-Fi plus limited cellular,” which I guess doesn’t make for snappy slogans.
Now Republic is saying that it’s doing away with the cellular cap. For as long as the service is in beta, at least, it’ll be truly unlimited–or at least unlimited enough to please virtually everybody.
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You Have a Strange Definition of “Unlimited,” Republic Wireless
A stealthy startup named Republic Wireless has launched, based on a concept that’s enough to grab anyone’s attention, at least momentarily: unlimited voice, data, and texting for $19 a month. The company says it’s going to make that possible by routing as much stuff as possible over Wi-Fi networks, and utilizing Sprint’s cellular network where necessary.
There are several catches. For one thing, Republic will only support one phone at first: LG’s Android-based Optimus, running Republic’s custom software. (The first-month fee of $199 gets you the Optimus.) For another, the service won’t offer international calling for now. Republic cheerfully concedes these points.
But there’s another gotcha which the company’s site tapdances around: It claims it’s offering unlimited service, but also says that it’s possible to use the service in a manner that isn’t “reasonable” and which violates a “fair use threshold.”