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Next Up: FreedomPop Vox

June 05, 2013 | Dan Jones |

The next step in FreedomPop's bid to upset the carrier status quo in the U.S. is to introduce a free voice call and data plan for some Android smartphones later this summer.

FreedomPop revealed the VoIP-over-cellular service plans this Wednesday. The startup says it will offer users a guaranteed 500 MBs of 4G data for free, unlimited texting, and 200 free anytime voice minutes each month. FreedomPop users will also get free unlimited calls to each other.

The upstart operator hasn't revealed exactly which Android phones, but CEO Stephen Stokols, talking to Light Reading Mobile at the recent CTIA show, intimated that the company is looking at developing its data sleeves for high volume Android smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4.

He showed off a new prototype sleeve design, taking care to obscure the name of the potential manufacturer with his thumb:

FreedomPop Sleeve

The eventual goal is to have a FreedomPop data sleeve that runs over Sprint's 3G and 4G LTE network as well as the planned Clearwire LTE TDD network on 2.6GHz in 2014.

The operator's priority for the coming months is to transition onto the Sprint 3G network.

Stokols says that Sprint is confident enough that it will actually close on buying out the rest of Clearwire -- despite the rival DISH Networks LLC -- that it is requiring frequency support for the Clearwire LTE network in future FreedomPop sleeves. A fact that costs an extra per unit for the fledgling company.

"I'd say they're pretty confident," says Stokols.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile


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