FreedomPop’s free mobile service comes to the iPhone

Roberto Baldwin was a reporter for The Next Web in San Francisco between April 2014 and March 2015. (show all)Roberto Baldwin was a reporter for The Next Web in San Francisco between April 2014 and March 2015.

Thrifty iPhone owners can now enjoy free mobile access. Freemium mobile network FreedomPop announced that the iPhone is now supported.

Now you can get a free voice, text, and data subscription on your Android and iPhone. The company also announced its FreedomPop app is now available for iOS with access to free voice, text, and voicemail service. Helpful if you’re currently trapped in a contract and want to reduce the cost of your plan by eliminating most of the text and voice charges.

New customers can purchase an iPhone directly from FreedomPop starting at $349 or bring their own Sprint-compatible iPhone 4 and up to the service. Both options are contract-free and support number porting. FreedomPop uses Sprint’s 3G and LTE network.

While free access to a mobile network is great, it can play havoc with a company’s profits. To make money, FreedomPop hopes to woo new and current customers to its paid services. These include unlimited voice, text and data plans starting at $4.99 per month and a security service. Currently the company says that 50 percent of customers are free and the other 50 percent are paid customers, with paid customers’ revenue subsidizing the free counterpart.