Scratch Wireless today announced that it is fully open for business an accepting new customers. The company made a big splash in October and has since been in a beta period testing the service ahead of today's formal launch. Scratch Wireless is an MVNO that runs on Sprint's network. It promises free calling, texting, and mobile data to those seeking lower monthly bills. Scratch is selling a single phone, the 2012-era Motorola Photo Q, for $269, and lets customers make calls, send text messages, and surf the web all for free when connected to a Wi-Fi network. When Wi-Fi isn't available, Scratch Wireless devices will roam onto Sprint's network, where text messages will still be free, but voice and data cost extra. Scratch offers daily and monthly voice/data plans for cellular access. The 24-hour plan costs $1.99 for 30 voice minutes and 25MB of data, and the monthly plan costs $14.99 for 250 voice minutes and 200MB of data. Scratch does not have an agreement in place with any Wi-Fi aggregators, so customers are on their own to map out Wi-Fi hotspots and availability. Scratch does not require contracts or recurring monthly fees.


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