MobilePro closes MVNO deal with Verizon Wireless

CloseCall America, a subsidiary of wireless technology and broadband communications provider MobilePro, today announced plans to launch a prepaid mobile virtual network operator service on the Verizon Wireless network.

According to MobilePro, the CloseCall service will go live within the next 30 days, first launching in the company's native Maryland and later expanding nationwide. It will offer what the company dubs a "no surprise" bill as well as parental controls that restrict both incoming and outgoing calls to approved numbers.

The MVNO announcement follows on the heels of MobilePro's earlier notice that it will deploy a citywide Wi-Fi/WiMAX network across the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Ariz.

"We believe that prepaid wireless is a huge opportunity for us to access an estimated multi-billion-dollar potential market for teens, preteens and credit-challenged customers," said MobilePro chairman and CEO Jay Wright in a statement. "With the coming of Wi-Fi cell phones, a prepaid product has obvious applicability in places such as Arizona where we are rolling out metro-area wireless networks as well as over traditional cellular networks using regular cell phones via our MVNO arrangement with Verizon Wireless."

The announcement marks Verizon's second MVNO agreement in as many months--in conjunction with March's CTIA Wireless 2005 event, the carrier announced its first-ever MVNO pact with start-up Amp'd Mobile.