Dixons Carphone is to launch a mobile network

Dixons Carphone - the company that was formed by the merger of Dixons (Currys/PC World) and Carphone Warehouse has announced its intentions to start its own mobile phone network. The new network will be a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), leasing space from the Three network. Dixons claims that the new network will "bring innovative…

Post Office to launch phone network

The Post Office has announced plans to launch a mobile phone network of its own, in a press release that inexplicably doesn’t include a pun about “first class service”. The new network will be an MVNO - a mobile virtual network operator. In other words, the company won’t be building transmitters but will instead be…

Liveblog: Blyk promises free mobile calls funded by advertising

blyk-uk-free-calls.jpgHeard of Blyk? You will. It’s a new ‘virtual’ mobile operator targeted at young people, which plans to offer free voice-call minutes in return for users filling out surveys and accepting targeted advertising.

The company is announcing its UK launch this morning, so I’m here liveblogging it. The latest entries are below, while clicking over the jump takes you to a full chronological report.

10.03: And we’re done. Here’s the basics: Blyk launches today in the UK, and it’ll be offering users free voice calls and texts in return for receiving text and MMS advertisements. It’s got over 40 brands signed up, including the likes of McDonalds, Coke, L’Oreal and NatWest.

You can only sign up if you’re aged 16-24, although when those 24 year-olds turn 25, they’ll be allowed to stay on. And there’s an authentication system to weed out older people masquerading as young folk to get free stuff.