TORONTO — Sugar Mobile’s new partnership with California-based textPlus Inc. now allows the more than one million Canadian users of the Nextplus mobile app to roam on cellular networks when out of WiFi range for only $19 a month.
The Nextplus mobile app from textPlus provides users with free texting and calling to any number worldwide from any connected Android or iOS device. Typically, Canadian users of Nextplus are young people aged 13 to 24 who connect their mobile devices without being a customer of the Big Three wireless companies in Canada, said Samer Bishay, president of Sugar Mobile, in a news release.
“These demographics align with our current customer base at Sugar. Nextplus customers will receive cellular service beyond WiFi zones at the lowest possible prices in Canada,” Bishay said. “They’ll also like the fact they receive our $29 starter kit for only $14.50, which includes one month’s service.”
Sugar Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator, operating under its parent Ice Wireless, which in turn is owned by competitive local exchange carrier Iristel Inc. The Sugar Mobile service operates like an over-the-top service for smartphones. Unlike other talk and text apps such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber, Sugar Mobile customers can use their existing phone number or pick a new number from a different area code in Canada, the company said in its news release.
“Nextplus is revolutionary because it offers the features of a cell phone company, but is delivered through an app,” Scott Lahman, founder and CEO of textPlus, said in the news release. “Partnering with Sugar Mobile simply sweetens the deal for our Canadian customers who can now roam outside of WiFi zones just as easily as our American customers.”
