Zer01, the new wireless carrier offering unlimited voice and data

Zer01, the new wireless carrier offering unlimited voice and data plans for just $69.95, has gone official with their network at CTIA Wireless 2009 in Las Vegas. Since their initial announcement earlier this month, Zer01 has been working hard to make it publicly known that they are not an MVNO. Given the MVNO fad’s spectacular failure last year, it’s not surprising that Zer01 would want to distance themselves from the “MVNO” label. But, are they really a “new” wireless carrier?

Zer01 CEO Ben Piilani took some time to give us a run-down on just what makes Zer01 such an innovative new wireless carrier. He starts off by explaining how Zer01 uses cell-towers throughout the US to route voice calls and data through Zer01’s own back-end servers. By licensing access to cell towers across the country, Zer01 can hook up just about any smartphone into their network. Zer01 manages to keep costs low and offer sub-$70 unlimited wireless plans by treating all network communications as data, which is routed through Zer01’s IP-based network. Voice calls are transformed into data packets and sent through Zer01’s redundant communications servers (note, they’re not sent over a carrier’s circuit-switched network).

Zer01 touts itself as an open network. Any smartphone user is welcome to bring their own smartphone to the Zer01 network. Getting Zer01 service is as easy as picking up a Zer01 SIM card, paying a $30 one-time activation fee, registering the Zer01 SIM online and popping the SIM into the smartphone. The Zer01 network will automatically detect the new SIM and send configuration files to your handset over-the-air. It really doesn’t get much easier than that.