Republic Wireless launches its $19 per month unlimited service

Last week we learned of a new wireless service provider named Republic Wireless that promised to provide unlimited voice, text, and data services for a mere $19 per month by using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) tricks. Republic has now gone public with its new service offerings, nevertheless things aren't quite as peachy as at first thought.

For starters, the "unlimited" service plan has some very strict fair-use clauses that limit how much data, minutes, or text messages you can use over a 3G network. Republic's fair-use limits are 550 minutes, 150 text messages, and 300MB when on a cellular connection. Go over those on a regular basis, and you could very then face persuasion to "move to another carrier." All three services are in point of fact unlimited when you are on a Wi-Fi network, for what it's worth.

In order to use Republic's $19 per month plan, you must purchase its specially modified LG Optimus smartphone. A clone of the Optimus S available from Sprint, Republic's Optimus includes software that manages the switch from Wi-Fi to cellular networks automatically. The software consequently runs in the background, so it is likely to have an impact on battery life over a normal Optimus smartphone. The Republic Optimus costs $199 without any contract commitment.

Interested clients can head over to www.republicwireless.com now to purchase the phone and sign up for the service. [via TechCrunch]