back to article Mobe network Three is the magic number for FreedomPop

The MVNO beloved by Californians, FreedomPop, is courting beta testers in the UK. The service will offer 200MBs of data, 200 voice minutes, and 200 texts completely free each month via the FreedomPop app, or new international SIM. FreedomPop is now accepting orders on a first-come, first-serve basis. Numbers are allocated by …

  1. Conor Turton

    Could be problematic for Three..

    Numbers are allocated by the UK host network, Three

    Imagine contract renewal time just how much of a bargaining chip you're going to have as a Three customer. They can hardly claim that giving you such an allowance for free isn't viable given they're hosting Freedompop.

    1. Vince

      Re: Could be problematic for Three..

      They're not giving the allowances to FreedomPop for free.. or at least I assume not.

      FreedomPop are relying on additional spending to cover the free usage.In a sort of Freemium model as it were (see also much of the internet's free services..)

  2. x 7

    100mb / month? Waste of time. What are the charges when you go over this?

    1. John H Woods Silver badge

      "100mb / month? Waste of time. What are the charges when you go over this?" -- x 7

      Yes, maybe useful for geotrackers or low data devices, but phones? My mobile data usage is 10-30GB/mo, which Three provide, bless 'em, for £15. They even throw in 300 mins of calls and 3000 texts.

      1. Dave 126 Silver badge

        My thoughts too - this might be handy for a second phone/tablet, one that you only occasionally take away from a WiFi area.

        For example, my mother is beginning to use her iPad Mini in her house as a quicker way of looking at weather forecasts and emails than her laptop. Every month or two she goes on a city break with friends, and would only really need enough data allowance on her iPad to consult Trip Advisor and the like. Her phone is an old Nokia 'candybar', so it isn't really suitable for that kind of use.

    2. Bob H

      Seems okay for my mother, she currently is on PAYG and has data turned off (using wifi at home).

  3. pauldring

    Whatever you do, don't put a Freedompop SIM in your phone. I did and now my new iPhone is useless.

    I'll explain. When I bought my new iPhone 5 recently, I opted for a SIM-only deal from Freedompop. Trouble was, the coverage in my area was completely useless. The phone was unusable for calls and barely if ever connected to the internet. So I sought a new supplier.

    However, when I plugged the SIM from the new supplier into the phone it didn't work. My iPhone had locked into the previous Freedompop SIM and no others would now work in it. Despite this being a seemingly common occurrence in new iPhones, Freedompop was unwilling or unable to do anything to unlock my phone to allow me to use the new SIM.

    I have been back and fore with their customer services department for over a month to try to sort this out. At one stage, my repeated requests for an update went unanswered for TWO WEEKS, though now they've come back and told me they can't help. The local shop that unlocks phones can do nothing about it because Freedompop is too obscure a provider for them to have any unlock codes for.

    The upshot is, I'm sitting on £500 of new iPhone 5 that has been rendered completely and utterly useless by Freedompop. I strongly recommend anyone thinking of registering with Freedompop not to do so. You might lose you phone, too.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like