Republic Wireless Review    
Read my review of Republic Wireless Mobile Phone Service
                    

Learn More About Republic Wireless' Brilliant New Mobile Phone service for $19.99/month - No Contract

I haven't been so excited about a phone company since vonage...and all I can say is "Its about time!"-- Republic Wireless should have AT&T and Verizon worried-Their pricing structure and plans for hybrid phones is disruptive and should bring down prices for all mobile phone customers.

Republic Wireless is currently in beta and isn't taking new customers right now (When you click to join, you'll be told that the beta is full for now--but you can sign up to be notified when enrollment is open again). You purchase an Android Smartphone from them (the LG Optimus S) for $199. No contract. At the moment they are saying it takes about a month to actually get your phone shipped to you...kind of a long hang time, but at least you know ahead of time it might take that long.

From there, for $19.99/month you receive "unlimited" phone calls, text messages and DATA through a combination of WiFi and using Sprint's mobile network. If you have heard about Republic Wireless in the past, you may have heard that they have usage limits and that unlimited isn't actually UNLIMITED. Well, that was what they started off saying but now they have changed their TOS. There is no longer a limit or the risk of loosing your service. Unlimited IS truly unlimited on their network now. This is a BIG deal, I am amazed that they are going to be able to do this and stay in business.

Republic Wireless Rules and Issues:
(Not a big deal for most people)
One of the rules is that you must connect your phone to at least one wiFi connection. This shouldn't be a problem for most people. I imagine if you just need a phone provider and don't use that many minutes or that much data, you could probably get away with never actually using a wirelss connection. Again, having an Android Smart Phone for $20/month is really a bargain these days, so this will be attractive even with this easy to follow rule.

Another apparent rule is that you'll have to pay for tech support. I am pretty sure posting to their forums will be free, but if you call or email you might have to pay for each incident. I will write more when I am sure this is the case.

Another issue is that there is no international calling right now. I am sure this restriction won't last, and I am pretty sure you'd be able to circumvent this by adding Google Voice's app to your phone. This is what I use with my AT&T Android phone, and I get most of my calls to Europe for 2 cents/mintute. (Unfortunately, calling mobile phones is more expensive - if you have an iPhone you may want to consider Vonage's mobile calling app)

I will be testing the service as a regular customer and writing updates here. Meanwhile check out republicWireless.com for more information.  Republic Wireless is owned by Bandwidth.com. Bandwidth has been around for a long time, and actually it does have another mobile phone company already up and running-Phone Booth Mobile. They are slowly shipping out their first batch of phones. According to their blog, the process of porting new customer's phone numbers to their platform is not automated yet, and so they are shipping out about 100 phones per week...that's kind of slow, but understandable. I am glad to hear they aren't just rushing phones out the door.

Remember that Republic Wireless is currently beta, and there are some bugs people are reporting--in fact there is a list of them on the Republic Wireless blog. Most of them don't seem to be "show stoppers" and the only known bug that is a show stopper doesn't happen to most people. People who HAVE gotten their mobile phones from Republic have been writing reviews of Republic Wireless, giving the THUMBS UP to the product overall. The issues that they do have are being dealt with quickly, openly and admirably--the opposite of the way the big carriers do business.

I really am excited about Republic Wireless and hope sincerely for their success. I know there is going to be a long line of people who are interested in using their service. Stay tuned for more (when I get my phone).