The Model for Google's New Wireless Network Has Been Around Since 2011

Google announced its new wireless network on Wednesday—but it didn’t seem all that new to one small company from Raleigh, N.C. Nearly every aspect of Google Fi, from its reliance on Wi-Fi to keep prices low to its novel proposal to issue credits to people who don’t use all their data each month, is already a part of the wireless plans offered by Republic Wireless, a small wireless provider that has been around since 2011.

Republic is one of a handful of small companies, such as FreedomPop, Ting, and Simple Mobile, that rent capacity on the networks of large wireless providers and push the envelope in pricing and service plans. People seem to like what they’re offering. Republic was recently named the top prepaid cellphone provider by Consumer Reports and outranked all the big guys in a consumer satisfaction survey conducted by PCMag.