New wireless service provider aims to ‘leave no corner’ of Idaho untouched. What it costs
A new wireless service provider aims to broaden and strengthen coverage across Idaho. It also aims to be cheap.
Idaho Mobile, launched Monday, has plans starting at $11.99 a month for unlimited talk and text with one gigabyte of data. The company’s website notes that the price increases by $8 after the first month.
“What I’m trying to do is provide, if you’re in a city, much cheaper phone and internet access, and if you’re in a rural area, much cheaper and much better phone and internet access,” Erik Finman, the founder and owner of the company, told the Idaho Statesman by phone.
He said he wants to improve a decades-long struggle in rural areas of the state for cellular connectivity, and plans to invest a large portion of its profits in installing equipment for whatever Idaho community needs it most. The company’s service extends across all 50 states.
”We’re able to rent a satellite network, so you get the same speeds that Verizon or other cell networks provide but for cheaper, because we don’t have all these overhead costs,” Finman said. “We use some existing towers, but we’re also going to be adding new equipment.”
He said Idaho Mobile has a small customer service team based in Boise.
Finman, 25, grew up in northern Idaho and struck gold with Bitcoin as a teenager. He dropped out of high school at age 15 and moved to San Francisco, launching an education startup and later using the profits to start a venture capital fund. He once gave a Ted Talk and was featured in Business Insider and Buzzfeed News.
But he came back to Idaho, moved to Boise and started Idaho Mobile. He said he wants give back to the state that helped shape him.
He spoke with the Statesman about improving access to internet in Idaho’s most rural areas. He recalled, as a kid, trying to make phone calls from Diagonal Road in Rathdrum and having the calls frequently drop.
He also talked excitedly about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s partnership with Idaho National Laboratory and Boise State University’s collaboration with NASA’s Artemis missions.
Finman said Idaho Mobile is poised to compete with major carriers like Verizon and AT&T.
For residents who can’t afford it, he’s committed to covering those costs for free. For now, he said people can request free service using a support ticket on the business’s website. He plans to soon add a tab where people can fill out an application for free coverage.
You can bring your existing phone to Idaho Mobile, he said.
”Idaho is physically beautiful, but the people are also exceptional, and I knew so many talented people growing up here that just had no access to fast internet or good cell service,” Finman said. “We’re really hoping to change that.”
NASA feels a ‘sense of urgency’ to get to Mars. Idaho scientists could help us get there
New-style, 6-reactor nuclear plant in Idaho is terminated, unbuilt. This is what happened
