MVNO FreedomPop’s Unreal Mobile service has struck a new deal with AT&T to provide Unreal Mobile customers with AT&T SIM cards.
FreedomPop launched Unreal Mobile in the U.S. earlier this year on Sprint’s CDMA network. Unreal Mobile, which is designed to compete with postpaid plans, has garnered some 50,000 customers to date, according to a report from Mobile World Live. But the CDMA deal constrained the number of devices that were eligible to be used on the network.
Under the new deal with AT&T, customers with GSM devices will now be eligible to access Unreal Mobile’s offering using SIM cards from AT&T. Customers can purchase an AT&T SIM card to use with their GSM smartphones for $4.99. Unreal Mobile also sells smartphones directly.
The launch of Unreal Mobile was in response to the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, which enabled FreedomPop to take advantage of the deal by launching a more competitive offering. Unreal Mobile plans include 1 GB high-speed data for $10 per month, 2 GB for $15, and a 5 GB plan for $30 per month. Each of those plans includes extra features such as Wi-Fi calling, OTT streaming, mobile ad blocking, and a free VPN for private browsing. The plans also offer international calling but not international roaming.
“A year ago, there was no way Sprint would have allowed us to offer Unreal,” Mauricio Sastre, FreedomPop’s SVP of strategy and carrier relations, told FierceWireless earlier this year. “Today however, their hands are tied, as Sprint and T-Mobile are held up in regulatory approvals contingent on their ability to demonstrate that competition won't suffer. Given that FreedomPop’s platform is enabling large companies like Dish to launch new MVNO brands in months, we decided to use it for our own purposes.”
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FreedomPop itself launched on Sprint’s WiMAX network back in 2012. The company already has a deal with AT&T for SIM cards and LTE mobile hotspots, which it struck in 2016. Late last year, the MVNO partnered with retailer Target to offer its phones and services in 1,100 Target locations around the U.S. Target is selling FreedomPop SIM cards for $5 and Android phones starting at $59.