Mobile Citizen announced that its WiMAX-based low-cost mobile Internet program for nonprofit organizations is now available in more than 50 cities.
The group, based in Boulder, Colo., sells service for $120/year per account and is offering three free months for nonprofits that sign up for service by Oct. 31, which works out to $8 per month for 15 months. All connections include unlimited data usage, no download speed cap and upload speeds to 1.0 Mbps. Customers can purchase a USB modem, desktop modem or mobile hotspot for use with the service.
Mobile Citizen was originally established by five nonprofit organizations that transmitted educational video to schools in 11 metropolitan areas during the mid-1980s using Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum, which is located at 2495-2690 MHz. In 2006, WiMAX network operator Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) entered into a 30-year excess capacity agreement with the five EBS licensees, which established Mobile Citizen.
Despite its plans to transition to TD-LTE, Clearwire's WiMAX network has picked up some unexpected momentum this year. Speaking yesterday at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2012 Media, Communications and Entertainment conference, Clearwire CFO Hope Cochran said the number of wholesale customers signing up for the WiMAX network is giving it a longer lifespan and a "longer revenue tail than I anticipated."
Longtime partner Sprint Nextel's (NYSE:S) Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA sub-brands recently began reselling Clearwire's service, and the WiMAX operator has also signed a bevy of wholesale deals with companies such as Earthlink, FreedomPop, H2O Wireless, NetZero and Voyager Mobile.
Mobile Citizen launched its low-cost mobile Internet service in Portland, Ore., in 2009, and expanded later expanded to markets such as Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Sacramento and Salt Lake City. The national expansion takes Mobile Citizen's service to more than 50 cities, including major nonprofit markets such as Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Texas, and Washington, D.C.
"Every nonprofit is a mobile nonprofit these days--doing community outreach, off-site event registrations, advocacy and fundraising," said Michelle Warner, director of Mobile Citizen. "Our hope is that we can not only help nonprofits control costs but also increase the productivity and impact of their field staff providing valuable services in the community."
For more:
- see this Mobile Citizen release
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