Subscribers pay $19 a month for unlimited voice, text, and data, with no contracts. Initially, the carrier imposed limits on off-WiFi usage, but it later and removed the restrictions on the service. However, there is a caveat to joining Republic. You have to buy one of its customized handsets for $249 to use the system.

Over the months since its launch, Republic has been tweaking the custom software in its handsets and adding personnelit has gone from 10 employees to 100to optimize its customers' experience.

With Tuesday's announcement, Republic will begin bringing new customers aboard in "waves" from its existing waiting list. "We'll open the service up to several thousand people at a time until we cycle through the full population [on the list]," Morken explained.

"We're doing this in waves to prevent a tsunami from happening again," he added. "But eventually, and we hope that means a mere matter of weeks, we should have a wide-open offer which will be available to anyone coming to the door."