The Net America Alliance has gained a new member with wireless operations in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico, announcing today that Flat Wireless (dba ClearTalk Wireless) has joined the alliance and will use NetAmerica’s 4G LTE core offering.
Flat/ ClearTalk plans to turn up the network in all of its markets by late November, said Flat Wireless President and CEO Kevin Beierschmitt in an interview. “We will continue to expand through the remainder of the year and early next year,” Beierschmitt said.
NetAmerica’s LTE core offering can help reduce the investment that smaller carriers must make to deploy LTE by enabling multiple service providers to share a common core. In today’s announcement, Flat/ ClearTalk said it went through an “extensive and demanding” request for proposal process before making its decision.
Flat/ ClearTalk does not plan to use NetAmerica’s “Bonfire” brand but instead will use its own brand, said Beierschmitt.
The Flat/ ClearTalk LTE network will operate in the AWS spectrum band. The company is “still actively searching” for devices, Beierschmitt said, adding that he initially expects to have at least three or four.
Flat/ClearTalk also allows customers to bring devices from other wireless operators with them when they sign up for service. “We flash them onto our network and greatly reduce their monthly bill,” Beierschmitt explained.
A NetAmerica spokesman said the alliance now has seven members. Four are entering their second year of live commercial service. A fifth is completing its network installation.
