Dixons Carphone Launches ‘Flexible’ 4G With iD MVNO

Dixons Carphone is launching its own Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), promising that ‘iD’ will offer cheap, flexible 4G services to customers, complete with free international roaming in 22 countries.

Tariffs will be offered through Carphone Warehouse and claim to offer the benefits of a long term contract with just a 12 month commitment.

“We’ve been listening to our millions of customers’ network requirements and desires for years,” explained Graham Stapleton, Carphone Warehouse UK CEO. “In doing so we have identified some common challenges. People want greater flexibility from their plans and are fed up with the ‘one size fits all’ approach.

iD MVNO

“We are also a generation obsessed with the mobile internet and accessing data and services on the move – things people are either paying too much for or just aren’t getting. Addressing these challenges forms the basis of the first wave of plans from iD.”

Dixons Carphone announced it had reached an MVNO agreement with Three earlier this year and iD’s data driven approach could eventually be used to power connected devices like white goods and cameras as well as other consumer electronics. The company, which was created by the merger of Dixons and Carphone Warehouse last year, believes the IoT is an opportunity worth up to £5 billion to the new company.

iD customers will be able to use their voice, text and data allowances at no additional cost in 22 countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden as well as Australia and USA.

Such roaming agreements would ensure that connected devices can operate beyond international borders.

Further information about iD is scarce, but Dixons Carphone did reveal that the first “mega deal” to be offered will be a Samsung Galaxy A3 smartphone complete with 300 minutes, 5,000 texts and 1GB of data for £19.50 a month.

“This is just the beginning,” continued Stapleton. “We know that there are lots more customer issues and frustrations with existing mobile plans that we’re eager to tackle. We want this network to be focused on the individual and we will continue to listen to customers over the coming months, asking them to help develop and evolve iD.”

iD is the first MVNO to operate on Three’s infrastructure and it is likely the company will seek more once it has completed the rollout of its 800MHz spectrum.

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