JOHNSTON – Mobile Beacon LLC, owned and operated by Johnston-based North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, will offer 4G mobile-broadband service to nonprofits for $10 per month, per mobile device, in 51 of the 68 markets that Clearwire covers.
NACEPF Inc., an independent lay organization that holds radio wave spectrum licenses regulated by the FCC, leases spectrum licenses to commercial providers as its core business. Through an agreement with Clearwire signed in 2006, NACEPF negotiated the rights to provide the 4G service, once deployed, exclusively to educators and nonprofits.
“It’s separate from Clearwire, but also made possible through Clearwire,” said Katherine Messier, director of broadband services of Mobile Beacon, noting that the service became available this summer.
The 4G service is available to any qualified Rhode Island nonprofit organization, including schools, libraries or fire departments. It will be available to qualified organizations, regardless of their religious affiliation, Messier said to Providence Business News.
The service, which must be paid upfront for the year, costs $10 per month in addition to the cost of the mobile devices which currently are: modems, USB modems and mobile hotspots – ranging from $60 to $94 – and expects to add WiMax-ready laptops this week. Mobile Beacon hopes to include smartphones in 2011.
Mobile Beacon is solely funded through NACEPF, Messier said but did not disclose the financial terms. Eventually, the Mobile Beacon hopes to be able cover its operating costs on its own.
For more information, go to the website.
The initiative is not related to OSHEAN’s Beacon 2.0 network.
