TORONTO, Dec. 9, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mobile service provider Ting, a subsidiary of Tucows Inc. (Nasdaq:TCX) (TSX:TC), today announced an agreement with a major US network provider to offer service on a GSM network.
Ting's GSM service is slated to go live in February 2015 and will operate in concert with the existing CDMA service. Once live, CDMA and GSM devices can coexist under a single Ting account, sharing a single pool of minutes, messages and megabytes of data.
"This is an industry first," said Elliot Noss, CEO of Tucows and Ting.
Plus, if you have a device in your pocket, chances are a Ting GSM SIM card is all you will need to give this highly touted upstart a try. Based on market-wide sales research and surveys released by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech USA and covered by FierceWireless, greater than 80% of the smartphones sold in the US over the past two years will work on Ting.
This will significantly lower the barrier to entry for people to try Ting. Rather than a leap of faith (albeit a leap that over 80,000 people are happy they made), with a compatible phone and a Ting GSM SIM card, it's more of a small step.
Starting today, Ting's compatibility checker at https://ting.com/byod will not only tell prospects whether their device is compatible on the current CDMA service, but also whether it will be compatible on the upcoming GSM service.
"Our goal has always been a mobile market where customers and their devices can move between carriers as they see fit," Noss said. "We think the power balance in the mobile industry is all off. Customers, not service providers, should hold the cards."
"We've been offering our vision of a better way to do mobile service for almost three years now. We're always looking to push it further. Offering service for GSM devices, and sharing minutes, messages and megabytes on one account regardless of which network the device accesses, feels like the right next step," Noss said before taking a deep breath because, seriously, that was a pretty long quote.
About Ting
Ting (https://ting.com) offers mobile that makes sense. Ting has no contracts, no overage penalties and no hidden fees. Minutes, megabytes and messages are each billed separately and customers only pay for the usage levels they actually hit. Businesses and families can have unlimited devices on one account and share usage for even greater savings. Active devices on an account cost just $6 per month. Ting offers a clear, usable website and smart, accessible people that are empowered to solve problems.
About Tucows
Tucows is a provider of network access, domain name and other Internet services. Ting (https://ting.com) is a mobile phone service provider dedicated to bringing clarity and control to US mobile phone users. OpenSRS (http://opensrs.com) manages over 13 million domain names and millions of value-added services through a global reseller network of over 13,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover (http://hover.com) is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses. More information can be found on Tucows' corporate website (http://tucows.com).