Sprint MVNO FreedomPop launches $20 LTE plan, adds Samsung phones to lineup

Sprint (NYSE: S) MVNO FreedomPop launched a new $20 per month plan with unlimited voice, texting and 1 GB of LTE data before throttling. The company also released its free, over-the-top Free Voice and Text communications app on Android.

freedompop galaxy s4

FreedomPop will sell the Samsung Galaxy S4 for $349.

The $20 no-contract "Unlimited Everything" plan offers unlimited voice, texting and data, and free tethering will also be included on all new LTE phones with the service. After 1 GB of data has been used for the month, LTE speeds will be throttled down to 3G speeds.

FreedomPop's OTT app allows and Android users to use FreedomPop's free voice and text services, and gives users a new phone number. The company also said it is the first OTT app that will also allow users to port an existing number. The app requires customers to have some kind of data connection, either through Wi-Fi or cellular.

The company also added three new Samsung Electronics phones to its device lineup. The Galaxy Victory will cost $119 unsubsidized, the Galaxy S III costs $189 and the Galaxy S4 costs $349. All of FreedomPop's phone customers already get 500 MB of data, 200 voice calls and 500 texts free each month.

FreedomPop CEO Stephen Stokols recently told FierceWireless that the company wants to have a second U.S. carrier partner for "strategic reasons," mainly to partner with an operator that has traditionally used SIM cards. That would "open up a whole new avenue for us," Stokols said. He said FreedomPop wants to pair SIM-based devices with its OTT app.

Stokols also said that by mid-year FreedomPop will start offering smartphones that work with Sprint's tri-band LTE Spark service. The goal is to get all of FreedomPop's Android phones off WiMAX and onto LTE. Other Sprint MVNOs, such as Ting, already offer Spark-capable devices.

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