Mobile virtual network operator Solavei continued to add high-end device options to customers, announcing plans today to begin offering a nano-SIM card compatible with Apple’s iPhone 5, Samsung’s Galaxy S III and the Google/LG Nexus 4. Solavei reported last month that it was the first domestic carrier to begin offering BlackBerry’s Z10 smartphone in the United States.
The launch of the nano-SIM will allow customers to bring over unlocked devices to operate with Solavei’s flat-rate, no-contract service offering. The company, which operates across T-Mobile USA’s HSPA+ network, offers unlimited voice, messaging and 4 gigabytes of data service for $49 per month. The company said it incentivizes customers to bring on new members using social media by providing “member commissions” of up to $20 per month for every three new customers that sign up for service. Customers can garner free service if they bring on nine new customers. Solavei claimed in early February that it had already signed up more than 120,000 customers to its service.
T-Mobile USA, which is set to begin offering Apple products later this year, noted that at the end of last year it was supporting 1.8 million iPhones on its network. The carrier also noted that it added 410,000 customers to its network during the fourth quarter through its wholesale operations.
A number of no-contract, unlimited service operators have begun offering Apple’s iPhone model, with mixed results. Straight Talk, which is operated by Tracfone Wireless and distributed exclusively through Walmart locations, reported earlier this year that it would begin offering iPhone models to customers. Leap Wireless, which began offering Apple products last year, recently told The Wall Street Journal that it was having difficulties selling the products.
Solavei, for its part, looks to be avoiding the device hassle by initially limiting its foray into these smartphones through low-cost SIM cards.
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