Teens and young adults in the United Kingdom have access to free mobile phone service. Now, thanks to a partnership between Nokia Siemens and mobile service provider Blyk, that same service will be available in the Netherlands and Belgium. NSN will host Blyk’s core network in those countries.
Blyk’s service is aimed at people ages 16 to 24. It’s entirely funded by advertising revenue. All calls and text messages are free. More than 200,000 people in the U.K. have taken advantage of the program.
“At Blyk we want to be pioneers in this industry. The company’s strength lies in its innovative idea and business model. The telecommunications industry, however, is incredibly competitive and leadership in the youth segment requires continuous business and service innovation,” said Blyk’s CEO and co-founder Pekka Ala-Pietilä. “Our collaboration with Nokia Siemens Networks provides us with the opportunity to focus on our core business, with the confidence that the service operations are in good hands.”
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.
