Blyk denies reports it's signed up less than 30,000 subscribers : Tech Digest

Remember we wrote about ad-funded MVNO Blyk last year, which was offering its young users free texts and voice calls in return for receiving adverts on their phones? Well, according to New Media Age, the service hasn't been growing as fast as the advertising industry would like.

Having canvassed media buyers, NMA claims Blyk has signed up less than 30,000 people in its first five months - which would leave it well short of its targeted 100,000 subscribers by this September if that rate carries on. The mag quotes media buyers saying Blyk was "over-hyped", that numbers have been "disappointingly slow", and that running a advert through it is "more hassle than it's worth". Ouch.

Blyk's UK CEO Shaun Gregory says the MVNO is still on track for its 100k target, and says that "if people are obsessed about just the figures then they don't get it". Unfortunately for him, if the media buyers don't get it, then Blyk will have a big problem.

(via New Media Age)