A new mobile network has launched today here in the UK, with the aim of being charitable as well as offering mobile communications to customers. Not long after the BBC’s huge Children in Need charity event, The People’s Operator has launched.
The new network is not a standalone network like Orange, O2 and Vodafone, but a Mobile Virtual Network Operator – or MVNO – that shares its signal with one of the bigger networks, like GiffGaff and Virgin Mobile do. The network that it ‘piggybacks’ on is in fact EE, the new network from the company behind Orange and T-Mobile.
So what’s so different about The People’s Network? Well, they fully intend to send a quarter of their profits to a new foundation that’s been set up by the network itself. Furthermore, you can choose to send an extra 10% of your top-up to a charity or cause of your own choosing.
“Uniquely that doesn’t have to go to a charity. It can go to your local youth centre or school. People can really make a difference to communities,” Co-founder Mark Epstein detailed.
“We aren’t asking people to do anything different. Just keep doing what you are doing … You have the ability to carry on with your daily life, but every time you make a call or text you make a difference.”
To start with the network will provide pay as you go deals only, with plans to launch SIM-only contracts in the New Year. Top-ups will work much the same as they do on other networks, with texts costing 7.5p each and calls costing 12.5p per minute.
Similarly to GiffGaff, who piggyback on the O2 network, The People’s Network will be an online affair, with no high street stores. They’re based in Shoreditch, London, and will have an in-house team to help with topping up and network issues upon the launch of the network.
Asides from the charitable donation made from the network’s profits, they’re also looking to work with UK charities such as the NSPCC and The Trussell Trust. No official plans have been confirmed just yet, but we’re expecting to see their SIM cards sold or made available in these charity shops.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.