Any updates on how Republic is working for anyone using it?
Republic just sent me an email noting that they are offering two plans now: $19 per month (plus taxes) after paying $259 for the Motorola wifi phone they offer, or $29 per month (plus) after paying $99.
Republic's business model depends on their users maxing out their wifi times, since they contract with Sprint for bandwidth when users cannot find a wifi connection. They claim they have no fixed usage limits, but will warn a customer if they are using too much non-wifi time. I did a lot of research on what data usage (my primary need) would trigger a warning, and best I can determine it's about 2gb or so; that may change over time.
Some Republic forum comments also note that the Motorola Android version is old, they are not offering a "current" software version. Republic is still a beta-company, with an interesting business offering but potential drawbacks for some users.
I may pick up a phone this year and test it for a while. Republic states they can port your existing mobile number on request, but I plan to do that only after trying the phone in different areas.
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