Pajama Entrepreneur

I just posted an article about the success of mobile virtual network operator, Blyk, which has signed up 100,000 members in less than a year. Compare this to the 170,000 subscribers signed up by failed MVNO, Helio, in the US which has been around since October 2005 and has wasted over $270 million of investor money. Virgin Mobile has taken over Helio for a paltry $39 million in stock.

What is Blyk doing that makes it so different and potentially threatening to the traditional mobile operator model of tying people down with expensive, long term contracts, imposing hidden fees and charging nasty cancellation penalties?

Read my post on Muniwireless:

MVNO Blyk succeeds in providing free mobile phone service

For those who are not familiar with Blyk: it is a mobile phone service available in the UK, soon launching in the Netherlands. No contracts, no hidden fees, no cancellation penalties. You get 43 minutes and 217 text messages free every month, but have to receive up to six advertising messages daily via SMS or MMS. They send you the SIM card to pop into your mobile phone. But you need to be between the ages of 16 and 24 to sign up for the service.