Republic Wireless will buy back your unused data

Republic Wireless is already a pretty awesome alternative to the bigger mobile carriers, but the upstart company may have just outdone itself. The firm recently announced plans to buy back its customers’ unused data, along with a handful of other service improvements.

The data buyback program is rolling out now in beta for Republic Labs testers. The offer seems pretty straightforward, with Republic Wireless promising to pay you back “penny for penny” for every bit of data you don’t use. The company notes that over 80 percent of its customers use less than 1GB of data per month, meaning plenty of people should be able to take advantage of the deal.

Republic Wireless is also rolling out the ability to jump from a cellular signal to Wi-Fi during a phone call, making it even easier to save data. You’ll also eventually be able to check your calls and messages from any device, including a tablet or desktop computer, and the company says it’s adding a second carrier partner later this year for even better cellular support.

Finally, customers will have a hand in picking which new phone becomes available on Republic Wireless next. The company has never offered a huge range of handsets, but hopefully this means better options moving forward.

To test out the latest features as soon as possible you can sign up for Republic Labs via the link below, though hopefully it won’t be too long before everything announced today becomes available to all customers.

Republic Wireless Announces Industry First: Plans That Pay Customers for Unused Cellular Data

WiFi calling leader Republic Wireless raises the bar again: Beta testing new plans that will repay consumers for their unused cellular data each month.

Republic also announces a second cellular carrier partner joining in 2015, rollout of seamless in-call handover from cellular-to-WiFi, as well as additional smartphones and seamless multi-device communications, in Republic Labs over the next nine months.

April 20, 2015 - Raleigh, NC - Republic Wireless, the WiFi calling service provider recognized as PC Magazine’s 2015 Readers’ Choice for mobile carriers, today announced a new initiative designed to help customers purchase just the amount of cellular data they truly need. In an industry first, Republic is launching beta plans that repay Republic Labs participants for all unused cellular data.

Having pioneered seamless WiFi-to-cellular handoff, Republic is now “completing the circle” by rolling out reverse handover of calls from cellular to WiFi without interruption. Republic is launching customer betas for next generation smartphones, seamless communications across multiple devices and support for multiple cellular carrier partners in the coming months. The company will roll these programs out to all customers after working with its Republic Labs test groups.

“One of the coolest things here at Republic is collaborating together with our Customers to solve the biggest industry pain points in Republic Labs. It helps us keep one step ahead. Customers told us they wanted control over how much cellular data they buy – with today’s announcement, we are delivering,” Bandwidth and Republic Wireless CEO, David Morken said. “Over eighty percent of our customers use less than a gigabyte of cellular data a month. It’s been estimated that current industry plans cause consumers to waste an average of  $200 per year in unused cellular data. We think that’s ridiculous. So we’ve devised a way to pay customers back penny for penny for unused cellular data every month.”

“Four years ago Republic became the first US carrier to build a business model based on WiFi calling, with cellular as a backup network. The market and the industry has reacted to our moves, but not enough, so we decided it was time to up the ante once again,” Morken adds.

Along with paying customers back for their unused cellular data, Republic is also working with customers to tee up several other industry-changing products. Over the next 9 months, Republic will begin customer-driven beta tests of new features and products including:

• Cellular-to-WiFi handover - Republic has refined seamless WiFi to Cell handover over the last couple years so calls don’t drop. In the reverse, the company has begun real-world trials with customers on seamless cellular to WiFi handover.
• Next-gen mobile phones - Customers will test which phone Republic launches next.
• Seamless multi-device communications - Republic will begin testing the ability for customers to access calls and messages from any device including tablets as well as laptops and desktops.
• Multiple carrier cellular networks - Republic will also be adding a second cellular carrier partner joining later this year.

“This story is about more than technology and cost savings – it’s really about a company wholly dedicated to improving the entire consumer wireless experience – leveraging all of things that consumers have wanted from a wireless company, while changing the things that aren’t customer friendly. Contracts and early termination fees are dinosaurs from the past. As of today, cellular-first approaches and overpaying for data will be as well,” Morken adds.

Indian Companies Pull Out of Facebook’s Internet.org Amid Battle Over Net Neutrality

A battle over net neutrality is brewing in India, where fewer than one in six is connected to the Internet. 

 

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

A viral crusade to keep the Internet equally accessible to all users has won the backing of some of the country’s biggest online companies, which late Wednesday pulled out of a partnership with Facebook’s Internet.org over fears it could allow telecom operators to choose which web applications users can access and how fast.

After a week of aggressive lobbying by campaigners for net neutrality – the principle that all traffic on the Internet should be treated equally — three Indian websites pulled out of Internet.org, which provides free access to certain web services for those on a particular plan.

Travel website Cleartrip.com, news channel NDTV and mobile app Newshunt, pulled content from Internet.org, which Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg brought to India in February in a tie up with Reliance Communications.

The Times Group, owner of the Times of India, also pulled TimesJobs and Maharashtra Times from the platform and said it would withdraw Times of India content only if its direct competitors agreed to do so.

Internet.org attempts to aid emerging economies by making Web access more affordable, use data more efficiently and help business drive access to more users.

“What started off with providing a simple search service has us now concerned with influencing customer decision-making by forcing options on them, something that is against our core DNA,” Cleartrip said Wednesday.

In an opinion piece published in two Indian newspapers Thursday in response to the withdrawals, Mr. Zuckerberg said “to give more people access to the internet, it is useful to offer some services for free.”

The principles of net neutrality and universal connectivity “can and must coexist,” Zuckerberg added. Internet.org does not “block or throttle any other services, or create fast lanes,” he wrote, adding that Facebook supports net neutrality. “We want to keep the Internet open.”

The moves came after e-commerce giant Flipkart announced that it was “walking away from the ongoing discussion with Airtel” for Airtel Zero, a platform that offers customers Internet services for free and charges companies a fee to be on it.

Airtel launched the platform last week, describing it as a non-discriminatory marketing tool for app developers in India. In a statement Wednesday, Airtel said it “fully supports the concept of Net Neutrality.”

Fewer than one in six Indians is connected to the Internet, but Indian cyberspace has been filled with arguments in favor of keeping access to it equal since the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India issued a consultation paper late last month on possible changes to the existing Internet regulatory framework.

The paper titled “Regulatory Framework for Over-the-top (OTT) services,” is seeking public opinion until Apr. 24, on whether telecom companies in India, like Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, should be allowed to charge consumers differently for using different websites and mobile applications. (Read the paper in full here and a condensed version here.)

One of the arguments by telecom companies for being able to do so is that new data-intensive applications, or so-called Over-the-top services like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Skype and Viber, require more and better infrastructure but don’t pay for it.

Telecom operators providing Internet services argue they are spending money developing infrastructure, on which those services are piggybacking. Opponents say differential pricing undermines net neutrality, a principle some countries, including the U.S., endorse. India’s e-governance division’s explanation of net neutrality is here.

The campaign to protect equal access to the Internet has picked up speed in recent days in India. On the site change.org, a petition aimed at gaining public support for net neutrality has gathered more than 200,000 signatures.

The website savetheinternet.in, which went live April 11, has seen more than half a million responses sent by its users to TRAI so far.

A short video explaining and campaigning for net neutrality by comedy collective “All India Bakchod” (“Bakchod” is a Hindi word that loosely translates as “trash talker.”), has more than two million views only five days after it was published on YouTube. The video was so widely shared that it temporarily crashed on Facebook- or in web parlance; it “broke Facebook.”

India’s federal Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, tweeted this on the issue earlier this month.

In another tweet, he said that the government had set up an independent committee to look into the debate.

TRAI is set to end its consultation process on May 8.

For breaking news, features and analysis from India, click here and follow WSJ India on Facebook.

Bharti Airtel Fuels Net Neutrality Fire In India With Free Access To Partner Apps

The net neutrality debate has been stirred up in India once again today after details of a new program from operator Bharti Airtel became public. Medianama broke news of Airtel Zero, a soon-to-launch initiative that will grant consumers free access to services run by developers who pay the operator for the privilege.

Medianama reports that Flipkart, the e-commerce service valued at more than $11 billion, will be among the launch partners once the Airtel Zero platform is official. Flipkart declined to comment on that claim.

Airtel Zero takes cues from Facebook’s Internet.org service, which recently arrived in India and lets users access and use a range of websites and internet services for free. In the case of Internet.org, Facebook brokered deals with operators to compensate them for ‘giving away’ their data services — Bharti Airtel is flipping the concept to let developers pay the cost of their visitors’ traffic.

A Marketing Opportunity For Developers

Srini Gopalan, director of consumer business at Bharti Airtel, positioned the program as a marketing opportunity in an interview with TechCrunch. In addition to zero rating access, partner websites and services will be promoted by Bharti Airtel through a range of channels, he explained. That includes SMS to subscribers, its website and One Touch Internet portal.

“The initiative is an open non-discriminatory platform: a win-win for developers,” Gopalan said, explaining that the costs will be fixed for partners of all sizes. “Our goal is to help developers reduce their cash burn, it is not a walled garden.”

Gopalan claimed early trials showed the program can reduce marketing costs for developers by two-thirds, and raise awareness of services to new, or first-time, internet users.

“A small fraction of our [220 million] customers actually use the internet,” he said. “This [program] is about driving digital inclusion… [we want to make] a vast range of apps available for our customers.”

With WhatsApp alone outgrowing SMS volume worldwide, and the growth of other messaging apps raising questions over the saturation of voice revenue, data remains an important channel for operators, many of whom are just scratching the service. India — like other parts of Asia — is predominantly a pre-paid market, and smartphone adoption (while growing) remains nascent. Bharti Airtel will see this program as a chance to accelerate internet adoption/engagement, and, of course, increase revenues.

But, since Gopalan declined to decline pricing for Airtel Zero, we’re not able to make a comparison with the average revenue per user (ARPU) that the operator sees from regular internet users.

But… Net Neutrality

Business objectives aside, the major issue here is net neutrality — the hugely important concept that all internet traffic should be treated equally.

That definition is net neutrality at its most basic level, but it is more than just the negative aspects, such as prioritizing certain traffic and throttling others.

Sir Tim Berners Lee, the man who created the internet itself, recently argued that “positive discrimination” is a major problem because of the power it affords ISPs and operators:

In effect, they can become gatekeepers — able to handpick winners and the losers in the market and to favour their own sites, services and platforms over those of others. This would crowd out competition and snuff out innovative new services before they even see the light of day.

Here, under Berners Lee’s definition, Artel Zero violates net neutrality.

While he declined to specifically comment on net neutrality, Bharti Airtel’s Gopalan said Airtel Zero is an extension of toll-free calling. He denied concerns that the program would develop into a ‘two lane’ system that prioritized certain traffic on the Bharti Airtel network.

Positive net neutrality is increasing common in Asia and emerging markets, where bundled deals are used by operators to coax new and early internet users into buying data plans and embracing the mobile web.

That practice has become common, despite criticism, but programs like Airtel Zero could take things to the next level if adopted by others. (Bharti Airtel has business in Africa but said the “focus” of its program is only India at this point.)

The Medianama report is well timed. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)released a paper on net neutrality last week. The regulator is seeking public opinion on 20 questions related to internet regulation — the deadline for responses is April 24.

If you live in India and (still) need more motivation to turn in your thoughts, Bharti Airtel just supplied it.