FreedomPop has announced that it is set to offer the first phone that will work on the company's Wi-Fi-based phone service, offering users a free mobile carrier service that runs over existing Wi-Fi networks.
The new phone is being built in partnership with Intel, and it will be based on an Intel processor.
FreedomPop's service is live in the UK in partnership with European carrier Three, and offers 200 minutes, 200 texts and 200 MB of data for free. Not only that, but the first 1,000 people who sign up will get five times that for the first month. The U.S. version of the service will be in partnership with Sprint.
The new smartphone that is designed to work on this service in the U.S. is due to come out in 2016 and will be based on Intel's Sofia chipset and will enable users to switch seamlessly from Wi-Fi to cellular connectivity without dropping calls or not sending texts. The phone will take advantage of the growing number of free Wi-Fi hotspots, with FreedomPop itself maintaining 8.8 million of its own hotspots around the U.S.
"Carriers spend billions of dollars building out the LTE network, but 90 percent of mobile downloads are over Wi-Fi and 10 percent on cellular networks," said Stephen Stokols, FreedomPop founder and CEO, in an interview with Forbes. "Ultimately, the consumer is paying $50 to $120 for that 10 percent of the time they need that LTE data connection."
It isn't yet known exactly who will make the new smartphone, however, a 3G version of the device is set to launch in the U.S. next year and will be followed by a 4G version in the U.S. FreedomPop will also handle the distribution of the device, which will be the main phone that the company will sell to customers.
Of course, Intel is also taking a stake in FreedomPop, having announced $30 million worth of funding in the company in June.
Via: Re/Code
