Doing the math on Zer01's unlimited voice and 3G for $69.95 |
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A firm with the impossible-to-say name of Zer01 announced today that its smartphone software, coupled with an unlocked phone, can provide unlimited domestic VoIP calls and unlimited data for a pre-release price of $69.95 per month starting later this year.
Windows Mobile 6 is required at launch to install Zer01's software, and the company offers a couple of HTC phones for those without an unlocked handset. Unlimited international calling to 40 nations (a mix of landlines and mobile) adds $10 per month.
Zer01 uses AT&T's existing GSM cellular network, repurchasing service as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). It's a class of business that has previously proven unviable, with the loss of nearly all MVNOs except Virgin Mobile, which acquired the EarthLink/SK Telecom joint venture Helio last year.
The company claims that by using a VPN tunnel to carry VoIP calls from handsets over cellular backhaul (from GPRS and EDGE up to full HSPA 3G) to its own IP backbone, it avoids the typical limitations carriers impose on MVNOs, including paying a metered rate for service.
The plan flies headlong into the current scarcity strategy employed by the three major 3G cell carriers in the US: AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon. (T-Mobile is still launching 3G in limited markets.)
3G carriers rightly claim to have relatively little spectrum for their services, and thus they charge a high rate with low limits: typically $60 per month for a 2-year commitment or corporate contract paired with a high early-cancellation fee, subsidized adapters, and a 5GB-per-month data cap.
It's hard to believe that Zer01 can strike deals where other MVNOs have failed. The company's boss said in one interview that Zer01 avoided wholesale rates by having its own IP backbone, but that's going to be true of all MVNOs. The wireless connection from a handset to a base station, routed to whatever is located behind the scenes, is the high-value part.
Helio, for instance, once offered a maximum of 160MB per month in data transfer over its Sprint-backed network. The company said back in 2006 that 160MB was a reasonable amount of data based on the fees it paid its carrier and other factors.
A call to Zer01's PR firm was not immediately returned. AT&T had no comment clarifying its MVNO relationship with Zer01 or its standard process for MVNO partners.
Zer01 plans to launch its calling service in April with a private beta, and it will provide additional details at the CTIA trade show on April 1, during one of the cellular industry's biggest events of the year. |
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 | 3G, AT&T, EDGE, GPRS, GSM, HTC, Network, Smartphone, T-Mobile, Verizon, VoIP, Windows Mobile, Wireless, Zer01 |  | Phones |  | |  | 10:11, Sunday, March 15, 2009 |
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