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Republic Wireless Delivers $19 Wireless
Driven by Wi-Fi, With a Few Massive Caveats

Republic Wireless, a division of Bandwidth.com, has jumped into the wireless game with a new no-contract service they hope turns a few heads. The company today officially took the wraps off a new $19 a month service, which offers users unlimited text, data, and voice. How are they hitting that ridiculously low price point? The company is using something they're calling hybrid calling, the service using Wi-Fi networks by default -- and Sprint's network if no Wi-Fi networks are available.

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The catch: use too much actual cellular data and the company indicates they'll boot you as a customer. According to the company's website, they consider a "fair use threshold" to be around 550 minutes, 150 texts, and roughly 300 megabytes of data. Cross that too frequently, and they'll tell you to take your business elsewhere:
quote:
The best way to know how you're doing is by checking out your Cellular Usage Index (CUI). If it's too high, we'll let you know and give you tips to bring it down. You have plenty of time. But meanwhile, you still pay a flat fee of $19/month no matter what. Everyone’s entitled to a bad day, week or month. Kicking the cell habit, however, isn’t for everyone. Membership here is a privilege. So, over time, if you don’t bring your CUI back into a reasonable range, we’ll help you find a more suitable, traditional cellular carrier.
While it's a somewhat shifty stretch to advertise this as really "unlimited," it's an interesting plan all the same. Device selection isn't particularly robust at the moment either, though the company insists selection will improve. For now the company is only offering users the the LG Optimus running Android 2.3, for $199 with no contract, or a discounted rate of $99 through November 27. Despite the limitations there's a niche here to be targeted, and it will be interesting to see just how disruptive this offering is.
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wilbur6244_1

Anon

wi-fi

first!

sounds tempting as a service for the price
wilbur6244
join:2001-01-02
Liberal, KS

wilbur6244

Member

Re: wi-fi

sorry i got logged out had to get logged in.. I like the plan

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

$19/mo plus how much in gov't fees/taxes/etc?

The price sounds good and their tech to use WiFi sounds great to save money. The question is how much will the price be after USF fees, state taxes, etc. My guess is the price could be almost double after all the fees are added in. Still a good price for an unlimited everything plan, but the impact will be less after all the fees.

Phoneman63
join:2001-02-22
Hauppauge, NY

Phoneman63

Member

Re: $19/mo plus how much in gov't fees/taxes/etc?

said by FFH5:

The price sounds good and their tech to use WiFi sounds great to save money. The question is how much will the price be after USF fees, state taxes, etc. My guess is the price could be almost double after all the fees are added in. Still a good price for an unlimited everything plan, but the impact will be less after all the fees.

How much are the taxes in addition to the $19?
What are they?
There are no hidden fees with republic wireless. State and local taxes vary by location. You pay $19 plus applicable taxes.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: $19/mo plus how much in gov't fees/taxes/etc?

said by Phoneman63:

said by FFH5:

The price sounds good and their tech to use WiFi sounds great to save money. The question is how much will the price be after USF fees, state taxes, etc. My guess is the price could be almost double after all the fees are added in. Still a good price for an unlimited everything plan, but the impact will be less after all the fees.

How much are the taxes in addition to the $19?
What are they?
There are no hidden fees with republic wireless. State and local taxes vary by location. You pay $19 plus applicable taxes.

They have to do USF fees mandated by FCC. That can run $6 or more per month. Plus NJ does a state sales tax of 7%.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

The price sounds good and their tech to use WiFi sounds great to save money. The question is how much will the price be after USF fees, state taxes, etc. My guess is the price could be almost double after all the fees are added in. Still a good price for an unlimited everything plan, but the impact will be less after all the fees.

$40
borka
join:2003-04-01
Ponte Vedra, FL

borka

Member

interesting

so basically you are paying $19 per month for 550 minutes, 150 texts, and download 300 megabytes of data. And getting free wifi calling.

no a bad option for low usage consumers.
jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI

jcremin

Member

Re: interesting

said by borka:

so basically you are paying $19 per month for 550 minutes, 150 texts, and download 300 megabytes of data. And getting free wifi calling.

no a bad option for low usage consumers.

Those limitations appear to only be applied when on a celluar network, and is ulimited over wifi. Could be a great deal even for high usage customers if they use the majority of their minutes/text/data in a wifi area like home or work. It wouldn't work too well for me since I use most of my minutes while on the road, but it would be a great plan for my parents.
mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI

mogamer to borka

Member

to borka
said by borka:

so basically you are paying $19 per month for 550 minutes, 150 texts, and download 300 megabytes of data. And getting free wifi calling.

no a bad option for low usage consumers.

Hey, let's sell a service that uses other companies infrastructure! A great way for WiFi hotspots to close themselves off with password only access!
jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI

jcremin

Member

Re: interesting

said by mogamer:

Hey, let's sell a service that uses other companies infrastructure! A great way for WiFi hotspots to close themselves off with password only access!

But for those who have wifi at home and work, it won't really matter. I don't think this plan would be aimed at people who are moving around and connecting to open wifi as the call wouldn't last too long before you are out of range of the AP. I don't think anyone should be using another person's wifi without their permission anyway.
mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI

mogamer

Member

Re: interesting

said by jcremin:

said by mogamer:

Hey, let's sell a service that uses other companies infrastructure! A great way for WiFi hotspots to close themselves off with password only access!

But for those who have wifi at home and work, it won't really matter. I don't think this plan would be aimed at people who are moving around and connecting to open wifi as the call wouldn't last too long before you are out of range of the AP. I don't think anyone should be using another person's wifi without their permission anyway.

I wasn't talking about leechinmg off of a private network. But "free" WiFi is a way for a business the throw a bone to it's customers. If non-customers get their data from that hotspot, then some businesses will re-think that bonus. Especially if this kind of thing takes off and more players enter this field.
jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI

jcremin

Member

Re: interesting

said by mogamer:

If non-customers get their data from that hotspot, then some businesses will re-think that bonus. Especially if this kind of thing takes off and more players enter this field.

I think that is happening now anyway. People with any cell phone plan are already starting to offload data to wifi to avoid the caps, so I'm thinking it is only a matter of time. I've never liked plain "open wifi" anyway. I think it is in businesses best interest to do something to ensure that people aren't leeching off of them. At least secure it and put the security key by the cash register, or something simple. Won't keep everyone honest, but it stops all but the 1%.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to mogamer

Member

to mogamer
Because 80 kbps of data is going to be noticeable on someone else's WiFi network.
mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI

mogamer

Member

Re: interesting

said by iansltx:

Because 80 kbps of data is going to be noticeable on someone else's WiFi network.

I really wasn't thinking about phone calls. I was thinking about people using data. That will add up fast if this becomes popular. A lot of people like the idea of a WiFi phone that isn't tied to an expensive data plan. But then you have to see the after effects if these plans take off and people suck up data on other people's dime.

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

SpaethCo

MVM

Re: interesting

said by mogamer:

I really wasn't thinking about phone calls. I was thinking about people using data. That will add up fast if this becomes popular.

Maybe I'm missing something, but there are already millions of phones deployed with wifi network capabilities that people actively use for faster data rates.

If there aren't concerns with all those phones, why the concern here?
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to mogamer

Member

to mogamer
As espaeth said, people already use their smartphones on WiFi when it's available. My Epic 4G probably spends 80% of its life on WiFi, and chews through maybe 70% of its data while on that network. republic isn't going to change that figure much/any.

jseymour
join:2009-12-11
Waterford, MI

jseymour to mogamer

Member

to mogamer
said by mogamer:

Hey, let's sell a service that uses other companies infrastructure! A great way for WiFi hotspots to close themselves off with password only access!

Already happening. As I noted in another thread: Having a WiFi-only tablet has proven very enlightening. In the three months my wife and I have had our tablets, our experience is there are relatively few wide-open WiFi hotspots anymore. The ones that aren't locked-up with at least WEP have HTTP-based username/password auth. systems.

Interestingly enough: The few we've found that were wide-open performed terribly.

Jim

NickD
Premium Member
join:2000-11-17
Princeton Junction, NJ

1 recommendation

NickD

Premium Member

Re: interesting

I can still go to any neighborhood and find at least 1 open wifi router.

randy435
@cisco.com

randy435 to mogamer

Anon

to mogamer
where on thier website do it say hey use your friend wi-fi.. they talk about your own wi-fi at home.. they talk about open wi-fi.. which is if it open wi-fi it can't be they selling someone else wi-fi..this is service that would service a small group of cell phone users most those folk who use their cell phone a little and are home mostly..it not a service for folk who think the world has ended if they not talking on cell phone..
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to borka

Member

to borka
Correction: free WiFi calling and texting, plus the aforementioned data.

Also, if you talk on the phone a lot at home/work/somewhere with WiFi, those 550 minutes can go a long ways.

tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Gulfport, MS

tc1uscg to borka

Member

to borka
the minutes/data/txts are JUST an example. They don't want people to go hogwild but it's JUST an example, not FIRM numbers.

Costs: 19.00 plus fee, my monthly cost will be just over 23 bucks. I'm in. Jut waiting for the phone.

MovieLover76
join:2009-09-11
Cherry Hill, NJ
(Software) pfSense
Asus RT-AC68
Asus RT-AC66

MovieLover76

Member

Hardly unlimited

I sounds like a great plan for people who don't use the phone that much when outside of the home and maybe the office (where your most likely to have wifi)
But to call a cell service that expects you to use under
550 minutes, 150 texts, and roughly 300 megabytes of data from a cellular data source is bs and no where near unlimited, unlimited wifi means nothing as they don't have to provide that part of the service.
jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI

1 recommendation

jcremin

Member

Re: Hardly unlimited

said by MovieLover76:

unlimited wifi means nothing as they don't have to provide that part of the service.

Sure they do. Well, not the data part, but the texting and voice services need servers and infrastructure. While definitely not a plan for a lot of people who use a lot of minutes while "on the go", there are still plenty that this would work great for.

MovieLover76
join:2009-09-11
Cherry Hill, NJ
(Software) pfSense
Asus RT-AC68
Asus RT-AC66

MovieLover76

Member

Re: Hardly unlimited

I agree that it's an interesting service and may be a very good deal for a lot of people, I just think the terminology is off.
Though I admit after looking at the website, they do explain what they mean by unlimited very clearly.

In any case this is a very novel service and a welcome entry into the wireless market.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to jcremin

Premium Member

to jcremin
said by jcremin:

said by MovieLover76:

unlimited wifi means nothing as they don't have to provide that part of the service.

Sure they do. Well, not the data part, but the texting and voice services need servers and infrastructure. While definitely not a plan for a lot of people who use a lot of minutes while "on the go", there are still plenty that this would work great for.

This plan would work fine for the great majority of users. If you are "on the road" all the time and need to be constantly in touch for your business, your company is paying the bill and you don't need this plan.
jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI

jcremin

Member

Re: Hardly unlimited

said by FFH5:

If you are "on the road" all the time and need to be constantly in touch for your business, your company is paying the bill and you don't need this plan.

Well, I am self employed, so "my company" is still me paying the bill.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Hardly unlimited

So get a $45 unlimited voice, text and data plan from Straight Talk with almost the same phone (just with a keyboard) and the same network, without the requirement for spending much of your time on cellular.
talz13
join:2006-03-15
Avon, OH

talz13 to jcremin

Member

to jcremin
Can't you just "write it off"?

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· RqH7sRyA
jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI

jcremin

Member

Re: Hardly unlimited

said by talz13:

Can't you just "write it off"?

Funny, when we (my business partner and I) were first starting our company, I was beginning to explain to her how "write offs" worked. First things out of her mouth: "So we can go to Hawaii and just write it off so it doesn't cost anything". I was like: "Um, not exactly, I mean, we still have to be able to pay for the trip and only saves us a little in taxes, it's not like it is free!" lol.
BikeHelmet
join:2010-04-15

BikeHelmet

Member

Re: Hardly unlimited

said by jcremin:

Funny, when we (my business partner and I) were first starting our company, I was beginning to explain to her how "write offs" worked. First things out of her mouth: "So we can go to Hawaii and just write it off so it doesn't cost anything". I was like: "Um, not exactly, I mean, we still have to be able to pay for the trip and only saves us a little in taxes, it's not like it is free!" lol.

To be fair, lots of people learn off people that word things very sloppily. My father always said "You can write off costs to your business and get your money back."

You most definitely do not get your money back. I figured it out easily enough, but more proper wording would've been "You don't pay income tax on what you write off. Sometimes it drops you a tax bracket, saving you even more money."

Of course, the government still gets its taxes. If you buy something, it's sales tax. If you pay someone, they pay income tax.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to MovieLover76

Member

to MovieLover76
They have to provide the SIP trunking etc. for the VoIP side, so it isn't exactly "nothing." Also, the service honestly isn't badly priced for what you get even if you count only cellular minutes.

•••

bobjohnson
Premium Member
join:2007-02-03
Spartanburg, SC

1 recommendation

bobjohnson to MovieLover76

Premium Member

to MovieLover76
Sounds to me like a home phone replacement that you can take with you for $19 a month. Good idea that will probably work well for alot of people.

crazyk4952
Premium Member
join:2002-02-04
united state
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-LR
Polycom VVX300

crazyk4952 to MovieLover76

Premium Member

to MovieLover76
said by MovieLover76:

I sounds like a great plan for people who don't use the phone that much when outside of the home and maybe the office (where your most likely to have wifi)
But to call a cell service that expects you to use under
550 minutes, 150 texts, and roughly 300 megabytes of data from a cellular data source is bs and no where near unlimited, unlimited wifi means nothing as they don't have to provide that part of the service.

I wonder why so few SMS. They must be getting a bad deal from Sprint on these....

thegeek
Premium Member
join:2008-02-21
right here

thegeek

Premium Member

Wonder if you can root it?

Not that there are that many advantages to rooting that device. I have the Verizon version of that phone for my daughter. It's a great device for kids, not so much for adults.

••••••••
Master5c8
join:2002-09-15
Mansfield, IL

Master5c8

Member

Where is the intro price?

Where do you get the $99 limited-time price from? I looked over the website and found no mention of it.

•••••
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin

Member

Fail

"Membership here is a privilege"??? Are they for real? I don't think I've *ever* seen a company write that. That requires a level of arrogance and condescension that even the most cynical of HR departments would never allow. The bizarre thing is how Americans take it like abused children- willingly and as if it's the norm.

Furthermore how are they legally allowed to call the service "unlimited" when they have very specific usage limits at which they'll kick you off? That's retarded. They can label it "unlimited wi-fi phone calls" but their current branding is false advertising.

2 quotes: "Everyone’s entitled to a bad day, week or month. Kicking the cell habit, however, isn’t for everyone." And from their website, "We’ll provide you with tips for reducing your cellular footprint and plenty of opportunity to get back on track. When we contact you about your usage, we’ll let you know how much time you have to correct your problem."

They make it sound like a freaking drug addiction. Holy cow. Are they absolutely insane? If this garbage catches on I will be at a loss for how little self-respect Americans have.

•••••

thomas2011
@comcast.net

thomas2011

Anon

please hard cap this

before people start to get really angry they need to hard cap this thing and be upfront about where exactly users will get terminated.

this is a price point that will get a lot of people to give up high end phones just to save money, but it well smell like a scam if they get kicked off.

i am not saying they need to give true unlimited, just that they need to be upfront about what the limit is.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

1 recommendation

iansltx

Member

Re: please hard cap this

They are giving soft cap numbers. What else do you want?

WiseOldBear
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Premium Member
join:2001-11-25
Litchfield Park, AZ
Motorola MB8600
Synology RT2600ac

WiseOldBear

Premium Member

Wowser

This is an awesome program/product for many of us who don't live on their phone but want the benefits of modern technology. I pay 3 times as much for the death-star's 65+ plan (2 lines) and this could be a definite money saver while still meeting my nerd needs. To all who condemn their choice of words-go away, your angry whining accomplishes nothing. I plan to join their beta and see what happens. Anything that runs contrary to the current wireless companies is good for America!!!
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Device selection

The one phone they have appears to be a rebadged LG Optimus Net. It's actually not a bad phone...sure, it isn't an iPhone or a Galaxy SII, but they want to meet the $200 non-contract price point.

By comparison, you'd probably pay ~$50 for this phone on-contract with one of the big guys, or $180-$200 for the phone on Net10, Straight Talk or Virgin Mobile (who sell the same or similar models).

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Great Idea

I love this idea and wish more carriers would offer phones that offload voice onto WiFi. I am connected to WiFi at least 75% of the time I would imagine.
primeomega
join:2004-03-11
De Pere, WI

primeomega

Member

I see this working out great

When I turned off my IPhone from ATT, I used google voice and a SIP. Used the phone just fine on any open WiFi and at home. Was a fraction of the cost of my monthy bill. I don't live in a hugh city, and there are lots of open WiFi that biz have around here. I love the idea of this. I really hope it works and they get more phone! (and sprint builds a few more towers)
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Fail

WiFi call-handoff will never work well enough.
WiFi access is overrated.
The $200 buy-in will deter most.

The double-secret cap enforcement will make headlines, and in the confusion, remaining potential customers will just avoid it. I'm fine with published caps/throttling that are reasoned. Playing word games will lose goodwill quickly. ("if you don’t bring your CUI back into a reasonable range, we’ll help you find a more suitable, traditional cellular carrier.")

I'd probably choose MetroPCS' $20/500-minute prepaid plan over an unknown gimmick.

••••
gbh2o
join:2000-12-18
Longs, SC

gbh2o

Member

Wifi/cell service

Everyone should note that this is a beta-test program and their on-line sign-up process isn't even active/complete so far.

Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC

Corehhi

Member

Right up my ally

I use tracfone right now and the only problem I have is I wish they had smarter phones. I'm not a power user so I wouldn't go over their limits. On tracfone I only use about 400 minutes every three months BTW, texts and internet use is deducted in minutes.

Have to keep an eye on this.

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

SpaethCo

MVM

Battery life?

The only real downside that I would see to this type of setup would be the massive hit to battery life. While phone manufacturers have made great strides to reduce the power footprint of wifi on devices, it's still nowhere near as efficient as the phone's CDMA radio for interfacing with the cellular network.

If I use a SIP client on my Samsung Epic as a basis for comparison, the talk time is 50% or less using wifi than making a standard call through Sprint's CDMA network.

MovieLover76
join:2009-09-11
Cherry Hill, NJ
(Software) pfSense
Asus RT-AC68
Asus RT-AC66

1 recommendation

MovieLover76

Member

Re: Battery life?

I get better battery life with just data only wifi offloading
I use y-5 to turn on wifi when I'm at the office or home and I get at least 50% more battery life out of my phone with that setup.
and I set my wifi to never sleep. Much better life than relying on 3G for background and foreground data services.

I don't do it for my cap, I'm on grandfathered unlimited on Verizon, just for battery life. I think it depends on the phone and setup
they may have implemented it well.

buddahbless
join:2005-03-21
Premium

buddahbless

Member

Overall A good way to drive the big 3 (or 4s) prices down...

I myself dont depend on using this service because I know I use more than there allocated amount of mins/ txt and data away from a wifi network. However this little guy throwing his gloves on to step in the ring with the big boys is quite interesting. No matter how you run it, or how you find the devil in the details with it when ATT, TMO, Verizon, ( even sprints MNVO) , etc are all offering, Some sort of unlimited everything for $50 and here comes option B, and @ $20 People will take notice.
We All know the big guys have slowly started to increase there $50 everything plans with gotchas, & add ons... IE: ATT no smartphone on $50 plan, you have to purchase more data, TMO unlimited but only for the first 100 MB which is BS you can hit that in less than a day wit normal usage then your throttled back to 56k or have to go up $10-20 for more 4g/3g/ or decent 2g data access. Verizon unlimited at $50 and your stuck with only the the most basic phones out, there pretty much cutting edge phones .... 6 yrs ago!
So even though I may never use it ( along with the rest of my tech assoc), it may help shake up market prices again which is what we need since TMO decided to follow the big boys motto lately.

TMO particularly may rethink and reprice there prepaid options and instead go for $30 unlimited talk and txt 30 mb of data@ 4g then throttle to 56k, $40 for talk txt and 500mb of data 4G then 56k, $50 unlimited talk txt and 2-5 GB of 4G then throttled to 512kbps after.

I can only imagine what ATT and verizon will do ..my Guess Allow smartphones on there $50 prepaid options ( certain conditions will apply) would be there way of firing back.

tmh
@comcastbusiness.net

tmh

Anon

Ridiculous

300Mb data limit over a *WiFi* connection? Why any limit? That bandwidth is already paid for.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Re: Ridiculous

No, the 300 MB of data is over the cellular network. It's unlimited over wi-fi.

MRCURAnon
@airband.net

MRCURAnon to tmh

Anon

to tmh
You're reading their examples incorrectly. Everything is unlimited, over both WiFi or Sprint's network. But, your ratio of WiFi offloading (super cheap for Republic) to Sprint use (not so cheap for Republic) must be kept above a certain level, or you'll be asked to leave.

RobNWI
@ameritech.net

RobNWI

Anon

Apps

Will this custom phone have the Android store and allow for any app to be installed? I know this may seem obvious to some, but it is my understanding that the Android phones on Virgin are limited to specific apps. I see nothing about the android store or android apps listed on their site only android itself is mentioned.

••••
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

Native Sprint coverage

I look at this as in some ways having better coverage than the big boys, especially if you're in buildings with wifi a lot. I could see this being huge for the university crowd, well-build]t university networks are pushing into the 90% coverage range for their campuses so you would almost not even need to use Sprint CDMA at all, and many urban campus locations have good Sprint CDMA coverage when needed as backup.

On the other hand, it is native Sprint, which is pretty limited, so while you will beat even Verizon when there's no cell coverage available, but wifi is, you will not do well when traveling away from wifi.

I'd be most worried about the text overages. A few hundred texts is super easy to blow through, even though 550 is virtually unlimited, and 300MB of data is a lot.

The Optimus is $150 on VM, free on 2-year contract with anyone (although why would you get that on a contract???), but it is a legitimately really nice phone. The screen resolution is low, but it's snappy, feels great in your hand, and runs a close to AOSP build of Android.
25139889 (banned)
join:2011-10-25
Toledo, OH

25139889 (banned)

Member

Re: Native Sprint coverage

Sprint's native coverage is pretty large. On that CellCo map you should zoom in and actually see how much of it shows as "extended" network; which is their nice way of saying ROAMING.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: Native Sprint coverage

Cellco partnership has a lot of native coverage, with some big holes, but they have the biggest native network. AT&T has a lot more roaming, but they also have a large native network. There's always weird exceptions like CellCo roaming on CellularONE of northeast PA because Verizon doesn't own PCS or CLR there. That problem will be history soon, since CellCo can build 700mhz LTE in any area that has high roaming traffic, so only voice and text have to roam.

Sprint's native coverage is pathetic. There's holes in their coverage in CONNETICUT. We're a tiny state with tons of people. In New Hampshire, their coverage ENDS at the bottom of the big lake, which has a gazillion tourists, so native Sprint is pretty useless if you need to be connected while traveling or vacationing. Also, on contract Sprint, the only reason you have such good coverage in rural areas is because you're using CellCo towers. Sprint only builds a skeletal network when you're not in urban/suburban areas. Even T-Mobile's EDGE network is bigger! Sprint needs to get their stuff together, and build more towers, and consolidate their existing CDMA/iDen coverage. The thing is, their network is not set up for prepaid, it's setup for post paid, where it's cheaper in many places for them to pay CellCo to roam than it is to build native coverage. Basically, there's no free ride in wireless, and you get what you pay for.
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