14 DAY TRIAL // Virgin Mobile USA announced on Wednesday that it had launched Broadband2Go, a new wireless Internet service that did not require an annual contract, monthly subscription or activation fee. According to the wireless carrier, the launch of Broadband2Go is meant to mark the extension of prepaid cell phone service to online access.
“Forget the long-term contracts, monthly bills or desperately seeking a local coffee shop for Wi-Fi. Prepaid mobile broadband is ideal for students, families on the go, freelancers, anyone who needs wireless Internet access...and wants to pay only when they use it,” said Bob Stohrer, CMO, Virgin Mobile USA. “We've already demonstrated the benefit of no annual contracts and the ability to tailor spending to individual needs. Broadband2Go is another way to give consumers value, flexibility and convenience.”
In addition to the launch of the new service, Virgin Mobile USA also announced that the MC760 Broadband2Go would become available for purchase from Best Buy in late June, as the first prepaid broadband product the retailer sells. The device operates on the Sprint Nationwide Network and has been developed together with Novatel Wireless. While being the smallest EV-DO Rev. A modem in the world, the MC760 Broadband2Go will sell for $149.99.
The new service, the carrier says, is similar to the mobile phone services it offers, providing a simple activation process and allowing for megabytes to be added at any time through the use of credit/debit cards or Virgin Mobile Top-Up cards. The Top-Up cards enable users to purchase data usage ranging from 100MB to 1 gigabyte. A new Broadband2Go-branded Top-Up card priced at $20 allows users to purchase 250MB of usage for 30 days. They can check the “Remaining Megabytes of Use” at any time courtesy of a real-time usage meter.
As for the device, it comes with a durable and compact design and features an integrated microSD memory card slot with support for up to 16GB of storage space on a hot-swappable card. The MC760 measures two inches and weighs less than an ounce, and it can be used with any laptop, tablet PC or desktop running under Windows (Mac/Linux devices are expected to be supported in the near future). It comes with an internal dual-band diversity antenna, but its performance can be leveraged through an external antenna as well.
“We're delighted to work with Virgin Mobile USA to deliver mobile broadband solutions that provide industry leading performance and unprecedented functionality for our customers,” said Peter Leparulo, chairman and CEO, Novatel Wireless. “The MC760 combines powerful performance and high capacity removable memory storage with a sleek form factor to provide the ultimate connectivity solution for users on the go.”