FreedomPop partners with Dish Mexico for JV
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FreedomPop partners with Dish Mexico for JV

Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) FreedomPop has launched a joint venture with Dish Mexico to roll out its free mobile service across Mexico.

FreedomPop launched in the US in 2014 offering free SIM-cards, giving customers access to data, texts and airtime. The agreement with Dish Mexico is the first time it has landed in a new country as part of a joint-venture, a model it says will rollout in other markets in the near future.

Dish Mexico, itself part of a JV between MVS Communications and Echostar Corporation, will provide local expertise, distribution and customer service, while FreedomPop will oversee the operational aspects of the service.

“We chose FreedomPop as our strategic partner in Mexico because our main objective is to constantly deliver consumer value and we have seen the company do this in other countries so the model is proven,” said Ernesto Vargas-Guajardo, CEO and director of MVS Comunicaciones. “We’re excited to have the world’s most innovative and customer-centric mobile provider as a partner.”

The operation will run on America Movil’s network, and will be based on FreedomPop’s “freemium” model, where it offers basic services for free and users only pay for add-ons, such as additional data or a second phone number.

Since launching, FreedomPop has built up a subscriber base of more than 1 million customers across the US, UK and Spain, giving away more than 10 billion MBs of free data in the last 12 months.

The service will launch commercially within the next three to four months, but beta testing opened up this week. 

It is the first of five upcoming joint-ventures, according to FreedomPop CEO Stephen Stokols, with the four others to involve” the largest carriers” in Germany, Italy, Asia and Australia, the MVNO claims.

“We know everyone in the world would love free voice, data and text and with our partnership with Dish Mexico and the upcoming four other international joint ventures, we are exponentially increasing our progress in making free mobile services a reality for everyone,” Stokols added.



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