Republic Wireless cuts domestic data roaming down to 25MB
To all the consumers who have moved over to Republic Wireless in order to save a bit of money each month, we have some bad news. Late last week, the Sprint MVNO/WiFi calling advocate announced that it has cancelled unlimited data roaming, will restrict customers to 25MB per month, and will reduce roaming speeds. This new policy begins today.
In its blog post announcing the change, Republic Wireless states that roaming data usage is nearly 30 times more expensive than on-network usage, and reminds customers that everyone benefits when using WiFi. Additionally:
After speaking with our members and analyzing usage data, we’ve learned that not everyone needs or wants wireless data roaming, particularly if it’s a threat to low cost plans (which, being ~30x more expensive, it is). So what are we going to do about the fact that some folks seem to really want roaming options, while others are primarily concerned with cost and are happy to focus their usage to WiFi networks? We’re going to focus on providing the greatest value for the greatest number of our members.
Republic plans to offer on-demand wireless roaming packages, similar to what T-Mobile implemented several months ago. Specifics on those add-ons haven’t yet been announced, but if this is what it takes to keep costs down, hopefully most people will understand.
What do you think of Republic’s decision?
[Republic Wireless]
