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NetZero gives subscribers free data to share through Facebook, doles out friendship 1GB at a time

Jon Fingas
Reporter
Updated ·5 min read

The classic trick to spurring early adoption of a data hotspot service is to share it with others, and NetZero has every intention of being as giving as its precursors. Its new Data Share program lets those who own of the company's WiMAX devices give away up to 1GB of data every month through Facebook, spread across five friends at 200MB each. Apart from needing NetZero hardware in a coverage area, there's no financial strings attached -- neither the sender nor the recipient needs to adopt more than the free, 200MB per month they already have just for showing up. The real dilemma is managing just who gets the data in the 4G provider's first come, first served approach to the sharing link that hits friends' social news feeds. NetZero is no doubt hoping that the ubiquity of the giveaway (and a half-off device sale during October) will put an early end to any rivalries.

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NETZERO 4G MOBILE BROADBAND GIVES AWAY FREE WIRELESS DATA TO PARTICIPATING FACEBOOK® MEMBERS

NetZero 4G Data Share Program Gives Each Participant One Gigabyte of Free Wireless Data To Give Away To Friends Via New Facebook App

Woodland Hills, Calif. – October 9, 2012 – NetZero Wireless, Inc., a subsidiary of United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNTD), today announced the launch of the NetZero 4G Data Share program. Through this new program, any of Facebook's® hundreds of millions of users can sign up at www.netzero.net/datashare and receive one free gigabyte of wireless data per month to give away to their friends via Facebook. All of the free wireless data that is given away can be claimed by the Facebook member's friends through the NetZero 4G Data Share app and can be used by NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband subscribers with any data plan, including the 200MB/month free plan.

"With the launch of this innovative program, we are remaining true to our commitment to
bridge the digital divide and bring the power of the Internet to more Americans," said Rusty
Taragan, President of NetZero Wireless. "This program has the potential to deliver an
enormous amount of free data at 4G speed to NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband subscribers to use online without being tethered to a home Internet or public Wi-Fi connection. Through this program, Facebook's hundreds of millions of members will have the opportunity to give away a significant amount of free data to their friends, claim free data from other program members, and, if they become a NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband subscriber (even those who choose to sign up for our free service), use the data to access the Internet wirelessly anywhere within our network."

NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband launched in March, 2012 as a secure, mobile, super-fast 4G
Internet service for laptops, iPads® and other tablets, and netbooks. Unlike public Wi-Fi, where personal information may be exposed to hackers and data thieves, NetZero 4G Mobile
Broadband delivers a private, protected Internet connection. NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband
subscribers are not required to sign a contract, can join on a month-to-month basis, can cancel at any time, and can upgrade their data plan at will without facing overage charges. New subscribers can also try the service for free for up to a year with the purchase of one of the two NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband devices: the NetZero 4G Stick or the NetZero 4G Hotspot. Each plan delivers 4G mobile broadband service with very fast download speeds of up to 10Mbps and upload speeds of up to 1.5Mbps.

NetZero 4G Data Share Program Details:

* Who can participate?
o Anyone with an active Facebook account can join the program and share data or claim data from their friends. To use the data, participants must sign up for any NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband data plan (including the FREE 200MB/month plan) and purchase either the NetZero 4G Stick or the NetZero 4G Hotspot connection device.
* Signing up:
o Facebook members can sign up for the NetZero 4G Data Share program at www.netzero.com/datashare.
* How does it work?
o When a Facebook member signs up for the program, the app creates a Data Share bank for that participant.
o Every month, NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband gives each participant one gigabyte of wireless data and posts a status update on their wall inviting friends to claim the data.
o When friends click on the status update, they are invited to join the program. The app walks them through the data claiming process, creates a Data Share bank for them, deposits 200 megabytes of data into the bank, and gives them one gigabyte of free data to in turn share with their friends.
o Each NetZero 4G Data Share participant can claim 200 megabytes of data per month from up to five friends, and if they are NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband subscribers, use it with their NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband data plan. There are five NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband data plans to choose from:

* Free: 200MB/month
* Basic: $9.95 for 500 MB/month
* Plus: $19.95 for 1GB/month
* Pro: $34.95 for 2GB/month
* Platinum: $49.95 for 4GB/month

Each data plan works with both the NetZero 4G Stick or the NetZero 4G Hotspot connection
device. Through the month of October, new customers can purchase the NetZero 4G Stick for $24.98 (regularly $49.95) and the NetZero 4G Hotspot for $49.98 (regularly $99.95). The NetZero 4G Stick is designed for those who use a laptop, notebook computer or a netbook. The NetZero 4G Hotspot allows up to 8 devices to be connected simultaneously and is designed to connect iPads® and other tablets, smartphones, laptops, notebooks and netbooks, as well.