Sky Mobile is now available to everyone in the UK on a SIM only basis and has revealed it will offer the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy handsets later this year.
The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) went fully operational in December using O2’s infrastructure, but the company told Silicon it had built the ‘deepest’ MVNO ever built so it could control as much of the customer experience as possible.
The service has been more than 18 months in the making and will look to tempt as many existing customers, of which it has 23 million, to switch mobile provider. Sky believes there are 52 million mobile contracts in the UK comprising a £15 billion market.
Read More: We’ve built the most advanced MVNO ever
Sky customers will get free calls and minutes, along with a data bundle. These are 1GB for £10 a month, 3GB for £15 and 5GB for £20. Unused data rolls over to a ‘piggy bank’ to be drawn from at any point in the future and an additional gigabyte costs £10. What’s more, customers can switch tariffs any time.
To mark the launch, Sky has commissioned research that shows 20 million smartphone users buy more data than they need because they’re worried about being overcharged if they exceed their allowance.
“We’re excited that Sky Mobile goes on nationwide sale today, which is great news for UK consumers,” said Stephen van Rooyen, Sky UK and Ireland CEO. “Right now mobile contracts are inflexible and confusing and we all know people are buying more data than they need to avoid those extra charges.”
But flexibility is only part of the equation. At a briefing last year, Lyssa McGowan, director of Sky Mobile, said smartphones would eventually be offered to customers but this is the first time Sky has mentioned specific manufacturers.
Having flagship devices from Apple and Samsung will be crucial if Sky is to snare subscribers from EE, O2, Three and Vodafone as well as Virgin Media and TalkTalk. Sky is also offering users the ability to sync with their Sky+ box but analysts were surprised at a lack of content offers.
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