FreedomPop is a popular carrier in the United States as a leading service provider of affordable smartphone data plans, and also in the United Kingdom when it partnered with Three. To step up its game further in the realm of affordability, the American carrier is jumping into the hardware business as it partners with Intel to bring about a new smartphone that is powered by the company's very own mobile chipset. This momentous event for the American carrier marks as the first time they launched its very own smartphone.
With the new investment from Intel Capital, the chip giant's investment arm, FreedomPop looks to offer their very first hardware targeted to work with its budget-oriented service. According to reports, the device will be optimized for Wi-Fi usage. It will be able to seamlessly switch between Wi-Fi connections and cellular networks without any noticeable changes felt by its user. Notably, FreedomPop will be offering its service for free when the device switches to cellular data.
Seeing that Intel is playing a major part in launching the new device, it will reportedly come with the chip giant's own SoFIA chipset. The chipset, which is known to be on the budget category, will be able to help FreedomPop sell the device at a much cheaper price, while also helping Intel along in bringing its chipsets to the mass market.
"It may mean more to Intel than it does to FreedomPop in some respects," FreedomPop CEO Stephen Stokols said in a telephone interview with Re/Code. "We are going to showcase their technology more than they could on their own, for sure."
FreedomPop had heavily invested on its data-only network for quite some time now. The company claims that they have the "largest aggregated Wi-Fi network" in the United States, and they offer unlimited access to its hot spots for only USD $5 per month. Google has also jumped into the trend of virtual networks when it released its Project Fi built for its Nexus 6 smartphone.
Both Intel and FreedomPop are keeping mum about which manufacturer will be building the handset, but according to speculations, it will most likely be Huawei or ZTE.
