Placing a huge bet on Wi-Fi, Republic Wireless quietly announced during the holidays that it will eliminate all usage thresholds associated with its $19/month price for unlimited wireless service. Republic uses Wi-Fi to deliver voice, SMS and data on Android smartphones, supplementing with Sprint’s CDMA network when Wi-Fi is unavailable. Previously, Republic encouraged customers to rely primarily on Wi-Fi rather than cellular service by issuing warnings to those who were using too much cellular. In a recent blog post, the company told customers that it is now “all-in” and that no one will lose membership by using too much cellular.
Republic pays Sprint for the bandwidth it uses, so the more it can rely on Wi-Fi the better its chances of survival. Until late last month, Republic was trying to discourage excessive use of cellular by using a “celluar usage index,” but customer feedback ranged from “confusion to extreme criticism,” according to the company’s blog.
Republic Wireless is a subsidiary of Bandwidth.com.
