Billionaire VC is going after American giants like AT&T and Verizon with new carrier upstart
At the Mobile First Summit, Social Capital partner Palihipitiya described for the first time his new company's ambitions to disrupt the incumbent carriers in the US.
Called Rama, the new corporation has been working for more than a year and is already licensing spectrum in Sri Lanka.
While LotusFlare has been the headliner in a partnership with Google to bring internet to the developing world, Rama Corporation will be developed into the carrier while LotusFlare will focus on the software. The company is also in talks to buy spectrum in the Phillipines to continue its emerging market mission.
Palihipitiya's opportunity to overtake AT&T and Verizon comes this spring when the FCC is having a new auction for what Chamath describes as "beachfront" real estate.
The company would need to spend between $4 and $10 billion to compete, and Palihipitiya told Business Insider after his talk that he's still working on raising the money, but "identifiable" names will be a part of it. He did confirm that his firm, Social+Capital, will participate.
Palihipitya wants Rama to be a new, modern carrier - one that can do things like easy billing and isn't stuck in a legacy structure. Part of his plan involves installing microcells in customer's homes to blanket the nation, but also making it as easy as buying a cell phone to sign up for it. Another key to the plan is a portfolio of zero-rated apps that won't cut into your data, Palihapitiya said.
"There's a whole bunch of issues that carriers aren't trying to solve. All these things are now just totally broken," Palihipitiya said.
There's no guarantee that Rama will become the next giant carrier, and details about the company are still incredibly sparse. Palihipitiya cautions that the company first has to win the spectrum auction and come up with the billions before it can even think about going to service.
"The first country was Sri Lanka. The second country was the Phillipines and now we've said 'F*** it!' Let's come back to the US and try to F*** this country up,'" Palihipitiya said.