You might remember not so very long ago I posted on giffgaff, which is a new mobile (virtual) network, launching in the UK. Well, time has passed, and now giffgaff is pretty much ready to go:

The new ‘people powered’ mobile network, giffgaff will launch on 25th November 2009 at giffgaff.com with free data to all members for a limited period.  The launch will be supported by an innovative marketing strategy which puts its members in the driving seat

Defining a new ‘people powered’ business model, giffgaff launches by asking people to help make the network famous in return for free UK mobile calls, texts and mobile internet for a whole year.  The original launch campaign is based on a ‘Tool Hire’ concept, whereby a series of fun and eccentric marketing tools will be available for free hire by the public at tools.giffgaff.com/log

The tools are designed to promote giffgaff in an amusing and capturing way, and in true giffgaff sense, those who get involved and simply upload videos of themselves using the tools onto YouTube, have potential to get rewarded – by becoming a V.I.G member (Very Important Giffgaffer) with a SIM that means you pay nothing for UK use of your mobile for a whole year

Sounds interesting, no? It’s from the same kind of mould as Blyk (which was ad-funded), whereby the traditional revenue streams that Operators are looking for are not in evidence. Most MVNOs would traditionally look for voice+text revenue streams, but the likes of some very new ‘network operators’ are seeking to run things in a completely different way – giffgaff is certainly an unusual concept, and I for one will be watching to see how things pick up over the next 12 or so months.

Dopplr, which Nokia purchased yesterday, was headed by CEO Marko Ahtisaari. Arctic Startup has just learned that he has been appointed Head of Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Design. That’s a hell of a promotion. Marko Ahtisaari has a rich history, besides being the CEO of Dopplr, he sits on the board of directors at F-Secure, Newsmill, Artek and WITNESS. He is also an advisor to FON. He was a part of the team that started Blyk. Most importantly, he is a former Nokia employee. He was the Director of Design Strategy in 2002. Good luck!

Update: Oh and one more thing … his dad is Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Reuters is reporting that Orange is going to partner with Blyk in the UK to offer Mobile Ads on a much larger scale.

Interestingly, this means that Blyk will wind down it’s own MVNO-type offering – instead leading to the development of some special tariffs on the Orange network for those willing to receive lots (relatively speaking) of Ads.

Another interesting point is that the approx 200k Blyk subs (they call them members) will not automatically go over to Orange – instead they’ll be able port off wherever they want (and I think as should be the case, to be fair).

For those of you have either been following Blyk, and/or remember older news, Blyk were originally pioneering a largely free subscription for their subs – and were expanding in to quite a number of countries using their MVNO model – it seems that now they will be acting more like a traditional Mobile Ads company, albeit with the scale and understanding that comes with having previously run Mobile Network elements.

[Via: Reuters]

There have been some rumours floating around the InterWeb recently about the direction that paid-for-by-ads MVNO Blyk is going to take – some suggestions being mooted that it might ‘close’ (quite what the definition of close means in this case is unknown). However, never fear, a previous employee of Blyk, named Jonathan MacDonald is stating on his website that Blyk is not closing.

According to Jonathan, the moves being made are actually growth and expansion – which is positive news indeed. I also share his sentiment that sometimes the press with their “vultures circling” approach isn’t a good one, and I’ve written in the past about the negativity in the industry.

Let’s hope and expect that Blyk will drive forward with it’s innovative business models, and expand further – we need someone on the cutting edge!

You can read more on Jonathan’s website here.

Mobile marketing and content services technology provider Velti and ad-supported mobile operator Blyk have partnered to launch the new Blyk content portal called “On Blyk.” Built primarily on messaging, the new service is already available to Blyk’s UK customers.

Here’s how “On Blyk” works (from the press release):

The new portal acts as a conduit for Blyk members interested in content from relevant brands or lifestyle choices; which moves away from the traditional mobile portal business model.

On Blyk enables content providers to host their content and then align pricing and promotional activities in line with their objectives. Content spanning areas such as video, chat, wallpapers, games and ringtones are delivered through On Blyk, from established providers including Player X, Saffron Digital and Jumbuck, amongst others.

In a nutshell, Blyk provides the user base, while Velti gives its Mobile Marketing Platform (MMP) to deliver targeted content to the operator’s 16-24 year old customers. We’ll see how that works in the real life…

Blyk is preparing to expand to Asia Pacific region. Apparently, the ad-supported MVNO is currently studying the most suitable markets and host networks in the region.

In an interview with GSMA Mobile Asia Congress Show Daily, Blyk’s head of strategy and advertising business development – Timo Ahopelto, said: “Both the advertising environment and mobile behaviour in Asia perfectly suit Blyk.” He also added that the business model would remain the same and that the operator would maintain its youth-orientated focus. “Asia is the most natural next step in building global youth media,” he said.

As a reminder, in September Blyk announced their 200,000th subscriber in the UK. They also unveiled their plans to expand to other European countries — including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain.

According to Ahopelto, Blyk ran over a thousand campaigns in the UK in its first year recording average response rates of over 25%! “This makes us the most effective and fastest growing youth media in the UK,” he added.

[Via: GSMA]

Blyk, the free mobile network for 16-24 year olds funded by advertising has chosen Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Siemens Networks to host its core network as it expands into the Netherlands and Belgium. Prepaid charging, messaging systems and device management will also be hosted for those two countries. The hosting service delivered from a central site across several countries sets a new benchmark for the industry.

Under the two turnkey service deals, Nokia Siemens Networks will provide the infrastructure, prepaid charging and messaging systems, software and operations to Blyk as a fully managed, hosted service to Belgium and the Netherlands. The hosting service is delivered remotely from the Nokia Siemens Networks hosting center in Vienna.

We’ve reported on Blyk’s move in to Europe (and indeed Belgium) previously, but often from an Operator partner perspective – this time the spotlight is on the technology partner that is going to make everything work – and that falls to NSN’s very capable hands.

Could we see more variants on the Blyk ‘ad-served’ business model as time goes on? Yes, methinks!

You can read the full press release here.

Mobistar (a Belgian Mobile Operator) appears to be jumping on a similar bandwagon to Cellcom, and our old friends Blyk, by launching a “cash-for-adverts” type of service. They have partnered with a start-up called Pumbby to deliver text messages with links to Ads in them, and if they watch them, they will be credited with 0.44 EUR.

Apparently customers will be able to use the service if they sign up for an Orange World plan at 6 EUR/month. It’s probably pertinent to say at this point that Pumbby will send a maximum of 10 messages/day.

Customers who do sign up will be able to swap credits for tangible goods, via the Pumbby portal – it would appear things like DVDs, CDs, and cinema tickets are going to be available.

This all comes ahead of the launch of the now well-established MVNO Blyk in to the Belgian market (intruigingly using Mobistar’s network!) – so let’s see whose services proves more popular!

[Via: Telecom Paper]

Back in April, we reported the world’s first ad-funded mobile operator Blyk has reached 100,000 users. Five months later we’re glad to report their business model works, as they’ve reported that now 200,000 people use their free service.

As a reminder, Blyk is offering 16- to 24-year-olds 217 SMS text messages and 43 call minutes a month in return for accepting up to six advertising messages per day.

According to the operator’s CEO, Pekka Ala-Pietila, Blyk achieved the highest response rates for the lowest cost of any advertising medium — 25% of those who receive ads respond to them, costing advertisers 50 pence ($0.89) per response…

[Via: Reuters]

Mobile Ad company ‘4th Screen Advertising’ has announced the results of some research conducted across the O2 (NYSE: TEF) Active portal (600 men and women over 16 yrs, in case you were wondering). Apparently, 88% of people are happy to receive Ads in exchange for free content (something that’s got make Blyk pretty pleased too, I would Imagine!).

The Ads were 15 second videos from such brands as LG and Citroen – aiming fairly and squarely at the target demographic. From this 59% of respondents said the Mobile Ads made them “more interested” in the brands featured.

Mobile Advertising is definitely a powerful channel – studies like this are only adding weight to the fact that people definitely have a tolerance towards some Ads, so long as there is a ‘fair reward’.

[Via: Mobile-Ent.biz]