Public Mobile launches commercial services

At midnight Wednesday, Canadian cellular newcomer Public Mobile switched on commercial services over its network in Toronto, reports The Globe & Mail. Public Mobile is aiming its services squarely at low-income users, including first-time handset buyers, as well as new immigrants. The company’s CEO, Alek Krstajic, stated, ‘We will consolidate the low end of the market.’ Amongst its stripped-down offers is a CAD24 (USD22.30) per-month unlimited local talk-only plan. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that Public Mobile has rolled out a 2G CDMA-based network using low-cost 1900MHz frequencies, unlike most rival start-ups in the country who purchased paired 1700MHz/2100MHz spectrum in 2008’s Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) concession auction. The first of these new entrants to launch, Globalive Wireless (Wind Mobile), did so last December, whilst Mobilicity (formerly DAVE Wireless) followed suit earlier this month.