Last month Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstr m announced he'd be launching a new wireless carrier in 2012 that provides free wireless service. Zennstrom and company are being a little murky about the specific financials behind the service, which is supposed to piggyback on the so-far-nonexistent LightSquared network. From a conversation with Fierce Wireless it sounds like FreedomPop is going to pursue a model that's somewhat similar to the new Iliad Free wireless service we discussed this morning . FreedomPop's marketing executive insists they won't be serving ads to help offset costs, but will simply use "free" to upsell to additional services:
We will not serve ads, can't get into too much detail here since the revenue model is part of the innovation we are delivering," wrote Tony Miller, FreedomPop's head of marketing and communications, in an email to FierceBroadbandWireless.
He noted the revenue model will be "similar to those proved on Web, whereby the heavy users subsidize the less active," and confirmed FreedomPop is actually pursuing a "freemium" model, where basic services are offered for free but premium services cost money.
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