Sprint jumps in with republic wireless for the bandwidth.com kill!

CA · 10-31-2011, 07:24 PM

Talk about good timing.Over the weekend, I wrote a post pleading with Google to please, finally, bring VoIP capabilities to Google Voice — namely, with an app for Android. The app would have some major benefits: it would let you make and receive calls over your home and work Wifi networks whenever they’re available (that means fewer dropped calls at the office, even if you’re deep inside a large building). And whenever you aren’t around Wifi, you could fall back to your carrier minutes. Unfortunately, while Google was actually working on building a VoIP-powered app for Android long ago, it shelved it, likely because it was concerned about infuriating the carriers.But shortly after that post ran, I started hearing some whispers. Turns out I’m not the only one with the idea — there’s another big (albeit less well known) fish that’s about to make a splash. Get ready forRepublic Wireless, a new mobile phone service from Bandwidth.com that will be launching on November 8, and could truly be the phone carrier you’ve always wanted.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/31/republic-wireless-an-android-powered-voipcellular-hybrid-carrier-that-will-cut-your-phone-bill-in-half/

First, a little background. If you’ve placed a call on Twilio, Skype, Google Voice, or one of myriad other services that use VoIP, there’s a very good chance that Bandwidth.com was involved. The company’s extensive VoIP infrastructure handles much of the heavy lifting for these services, and it also offers some of its own products, like Phonebooth, a premium VoIP service for businesses.Which brings us back to Republic Wireless, which is the latest of Bandwidth’s own products. The service will essentially be a mobile virtual network operator — in other words it’s an alternative to the likes of Verizon and AT&T. And unlike devices on those carriers, it will switch between VoIP over Wifi and a normal cellular connection, depending on where you are.The product’s homepage was recently updated with a cheeky note promising a “new kind of wireless network” on November 8th. A link at the bottom confirms that it is, indeed, made by Bandwidth.com. The rest of the site is short on details, but we have many more thanks, in part, to a slide deck the company has been showing to its internal beta testers.

Now this is going to be interesting, I use Phonebooth and it's killer, so.....

**503ducati** · 10-31-2011, 07:33 PM

Sounds interesting...

Republic Wireless: An Android-Powered, VoIP/Cellular Hybrid Carrier That’ll Cut Your Phone Bill In Half

Talk about good timing.

Over the weekend, I wrote a post pleading with Google to please, finally, bring VoIP capabilities to Google Voice — namely, with an app for Android. The app would have some major benefits: it would let you make and receive calls over your home and work Wifi networks whenever they’re available (that means fewer dropped calls at the office, even if you’re deep inside a large building). And whenever you aren’t around Wifi, you could fall back to your carrier minutes. Unfortunately, while Google was actually working on building a VoIP-powered app for Android long ago, it shelved it, likely because it was concerned about infuriating the carriers.

But shortly after that post ran, I started hearing some whispers. Turns out I’m not the only one with the idea — there’s another big (albeit less well known) fish that’s about to make a splash. Get ready for Republic Wireless, a new mobile phone service from Bandwidth.com that will be launching on November 8, and could truly be the phone carrier you’ve always wanted.

First, a little background. If you’ve placed a call on Twilio, Skype, Google Voice, or one of myriad other services that use VoIP, there’s a very good chance that Bandwidth.com was involved. The company’s extensive VoIP infrastructure handles much of the heavy lifting for these services, and it also offers some of its own products, like Phonebooth, a premium VoIP service for businesses.

Which brings us back to Republic Wireless, which is the latest of Bandwidth’s own products. The service will essentially be a mobile virtual network operator — in other words it’s an alternative to the likes of Verizon and AT&T. And unlike devices on those carriers, it will switch between VoIP over Wifi and a normal cellular connection, depending on where you are.

The product’s homepage was recently updated with a cheeky note promising a “new kind of wireless network” on November 8th. A link at the bottom confirms that it is, indeed, made by Bandwidth.com. The rest of the site is short on details, but we have many more thanks, in part, to a slide deck the company has been showing to its internal beta testers.

Here are the basics, some of which are gleaned from the slide deck, others which come from other sources:

The service will use what it’s calling “Hybrid Calling” — your phone will rely primarily on Wifi, whenever it’s available. And it will fall back on cell networks when you aren’t connected to Wifi.

Users will not have to manually switch between Wifi and cellular — the phone will figure it out automatically
The service will require users to get a new phone. I’m unclear on whether there will be multiple models available initially, but the phone runs on Android. New phones are required because the Hybrid Calling relies on both hardware and software.

The first cellular network that’s available as the fallback will be Sprint. The company is either planning, or already in the process of, signing other carriers onboard as well.

The phone will have one phone number (no swapping between numbers for VoIP/cellular)
You’ll be able to send both calls and texts via Wifi.

We’re hearing that pricing details are still being finalized, but they’re described as being much cheaper — perhaps around half as much — than anything else available for an Android device (i.e. a smartphone) through the traditional carriers

You won’t need to sign up for a contract, so there aren’t any termination fees. No overage fees, either. In short, it sounds totally awesome, provided there aren’t any pitfalls we haven’t heard yet.

I’ll keep poking around for more details. In the mean time, it’s worth checking out the Republic Wireless site — if you scroll to the right, you’ll find a long photo to likely contains hints as to what to expect come November 8. I’m wondering if the phone shown below (albeit in many pieces) is what the first device on the network will look like.

CA · 10-31-2011, 07:39 PM

What...I wasn't loud enough?

Voice quality might be good, text over WIFI, no contract MVNO, need I say more!

I signed up and am wondering what they mean by special offers?

**billm261** · 10-31-2011, 07:49 PM

Just some information but I found when I tried WiFi calling on T-MOBILE it required a very strong signal. I even bought the best router linksys had but call quality was choppy when not right near the router. It certainly has its benefits, especially when out of the country or in a building without a signal.

**503ducati** · 10-31-2011, 07:51 PM

Users will not have to manually switch between Wifi and cellular — the phone will figure it out automatically
The service will require users to get a new phone. I’m unclear on whether there will be multiple models available initially, but the phone runs on Android. New phones are required because the Hybrid Calling relies on both hardware and software.

The question is what phones will be available with this hardware?

**billm261** · 10-31-2011, 10:16 PM

That's a million dollar question.

It looks like an Optimus in the link but it may mean nothing.

Seeing that T-Mobile has had Wi-Fi devices for some time now maybe a CDMA variant won't take to long to bring to market.

**NGeorge** · 10-31-2011, 10:45 PM

I remember something similar was supposed to happen a year or so ago except via AT&T... It was called Buzzirk Wireless IIRC and dissapeared--I'm assuming because they could never get it to work stable. There was also some sort of MLM marketing involved.

--Nat

**xchpstang** · 11-01-2011, 01:39 AM

Most VOIP services I've tried have been lackluster even with robust cable internet connections. Surprisingly Google Voice calling through the computer has been very reliable and the quality has been very good. I still don't think any VOIP services will ever be that great unless you have dedicated bandwidth and QOS just for VOIP. At work we have gone VOIP even for mission critical phone lines and the only way they took a gamble on this is because we own our own fiber network. If they had to depend on someone else's network and run VOIP with someone else managing the network they would have never switched to VOIP: varying quality wouldn't work for mission critical phone lines.

CA · 11-01-2011, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by xchpstang

Most VOIP services I've tried have been lackluster even with robust cable internet connections. Surprisingly Google Voice calling through the computer has been very reliable and the quality has been very good. I still don't think any VOIP services will ever be that great unless you have dedicated bandwidth and QOS just for VOIP. At work we have gone VOIP even for mission critical phone lines and the only way they took a gamble on this is because we own our own fiber network. If they had to depend on someone else's network and run VOIP with someone else managing the network they would have never switched to VOIP: varying quality wouldn't work for mission critical phone lines.

You might want to look into bandwidth.com, my softphone with headset is wideband and is better than a landline because of the codec compression. And my wife uses a wideband Skype phone with ATA (doesn't use a PC) and the QOS is great.

If this thing does work out, it may be able to handle many features you just don't get with wireless or a Telco line. Right now I use Lingo ($7.95 a month) VOIP and have it ring my cell at the same time as an ordinary phone. I can ban any one, restrict time for calls, and a whole bunch more! That's a game changer!

CA · 11-01-2011, 05:33 AM

Here is a biggie I missed:

The company says the monthly plan would include unlimited 3G data without any bandwidth caps.

http://gigaom.com/2011/10/31/republic-wireless-to-launch-19-voice-sms-service/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaig n=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%3A+Tech%29

Still, the idea of unlimited 3G data with the service for $19 a month is interesting enough for me to consider getting an additional line.

**Endeavor** · 11-01-2011, 04:08 PM

I've been using FreePBX, which is an open source VOIP PBX sponsored by Bandwidth.com, for about a year now, and love it. I've found that VOIP can be very reliable, if you have a reliable internet connection. My home has a very slow upload speed (950kbs), but with QOS properly configured, my call quality is excellent. It wasn't at first, but once I discovered and forced Time Warner to fix a problem with the neighborhood (which caused IP to stop working for 10 seconds at a time), that the problem went away. My phone bill went from $120 per month for two lines with voicemail and long distance to $40 per month (we still have one AT&T line as an emergency/backup line).

I have no doubt that this model can and will work. I suspect, however, that they'll have problems with the model because some people will simply refuse to use the Wifi feature at all, especially if it doesn't cover their entire house. I've set-up my house so that I have two Access Points and can roam between them without a hiccup, but I suspect that a lot of people will just password protect their Wifi and not give it to the phone. This will increase Republic's overhead and require them to charge far more than 19.00 a month for unlimited talk, text, and data.

If Republic can bundle the service along with an easy to install Wifi Repeater, I think they'll see more compliance by users at home.

They're also going to have to deal with those of you who rightly think that unlimited data means unlimited and download 10g a month. Presumably, they'll do that by imposing an unadvertised cap...

Now that I think about it more, I'll bet its $19 per month for unlimited use on Wifi, and some very small extra charge for mobile calling. They have to do something to encourage use on Wifi. Even if they passed on the wholesale rates, i.e. 1/2 cents for calling, we'd have an incentive to use Wifi when possible.

**AndroidFoneFan** · 11-04-2011, 02:16 PM

This would be perfect for me for work. I don't talk much for work, text messages to my bosses even less and 19.00 a month would be a deal maker.
However the deal breaker would be a lack of good GPS.

CA · 11-04-2011, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by AndroidPhoneFan

THis would be perfect for me for work. I don't talk much for work, text messages to my bosses even less and 19.00 a month would be a deal maker.
However the deal breaker would be a lack of good GPS.

Do you know something? In the photo on their page it looks like an Optimus S, and I can assure you GPS works on them. The courier industry focused on them because they are cheep and work well. I'm not a Samsung fan, but sometimes you gotta make sacrifices.

But you could be rite, there's not a lot of room inside for another chip, so that leaves a switch out, but I know nothing about UMA! LOL

**Extraordinary** · 11-04-2011, 04:29 PM

Ok

So are they allowing $19 for data only? Even cellular calls go over data? Or do they actually let you text and call like any other phone?

My question is this:

How can they force wifi on you?

This deal sounds too good to be true, UNLIMITED means lots of heavy users...

And if VM could not make $25 for 300 mins on Virgin work (raised to $35) then I don't see why they would do something like this. PLUS Sprint needs to share profits with someone else.

Am I the only one who is confused here?

**bigsnake49** · 11-04-2011, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by CA

Do you know something? In the photo on their page it looks like an Optimus S, and I can assure you GPS works on them. The courier industry focused on them because they are cheep and work well. I'm not a Samsung fan, but sometimes you gotta make sacrifices.

But you could be rite, there's not a lot of room inside for another chip, so that leaves a switch out, but I know nothing about UMA! LOL

You mean you're not a fan of LG, right, since the Optimus S is made by LG.