This is one for people living in the UK. I came across this incredible offer while browsing for my next mobile contract upgrade. The network is called Ovivo Mobile where they will provide you with 250 minutes, 400 SMS and 500 Mb data each month at no monthly cost. They will however charge you an initial £20 of which £15 becomes as credit - that credit gets used if you go over the monthly limit much like how pay as you go works. Sometimes, some things sound too good to be true and I have to admit to being initially skeptical, so I did some more research to check out the background of the company first. The network runs on top of the vodaphone network and they seem to have been around for about one and half years. User opinion generally seem positive. Their business model revolves round making money by posting pop up advertising as you browse the web using their network;personally I can't really see that as sustainable but they've been around for quite a while already - so it's perhaps a good idea to use this as a backup. I haven't actually ordered a sim myself yet (still on contract and don't need it yet) and would like to know what others think of this deal.
I would be very skeptical about this. I don't see how a couple of pop-up ads could sustain a service such as this one, especially since there is a decent amount of minutes and SMS but a very tiny bit of data. Usually there are no free lunches, if a service is free then it's either to advertise something (such as all those "get one of these free" offers) or using YOU as the product. (google, facebook etc.) I don't see how ads could support this, so I would be very worried about them selling my information forward in order to make a profit. I would be very careful to read the fine print and even more careful about trusting them no matter what they say. If you do decide to try it, let us know how it goes.
I'm rather skeptical as well because it just seems like an unsustainable business but as time goes by and if they are able to provide a working service for a longer period then my impressions may change. It's probably not wise to use this with your primary number but instead perhaps it might be ideal as a backup. Also, if you have teenagers then this might be an ideal way for them to have access to a mobile without incurring too much of a cost. I may order a backup just to test things out and I'll keep this post updated with my findings.
