giffgaff - new MVNO coming up in the UK
 

Found these info's on All About Symbian today:

Giffgaff breaks cover - will it succeed?

....ok....looks interesting....sim only 'mix of pay as you go and pay monthly'...mmmm interesting!

I think this is going to be a bit like Simyo which is the lowco (no-frills) product of KPN across Europe. Interestingly, in all their markets, KPN also has a few secondary "premium products". I think networks like giffgaff, simyo etc. are really aimed at web users who are comfortable with technology, are familiar with forums like this and who are able to do quick product comparisons.

Characteristics:
- Web only purchase options (no store presence)
- No mainstream advertising (TV, billboards etc.)
- Awful customer service (web-only)
- No telephone numbers for customer service (if so only premium rate)
- Low data rate
- Low per minute rate
- Free on-network calls??
- Possibly favourable data roaming rates??

Overall, this looks like it could be an interesting product for ppgsm users! ;)

UK MVNO Giffgaff
 

To launch Wednesday the 25th of November!

giffgaff - The people-powered mobile phone community - payg mobile phone sim cards - giff gaff

To start off with, they are going to allow 100MB of free data useage per day! :thumbup:

Well, it looks sort of interesting ...

on top of the free data for 6 months as already mentioned (which specifies phone use, so I imagine they might not like seeing it in a dongle) ...

free calls to other giffgaff users

8p a minute calls, 4p texts, much as expected I think I'd say, when compared with Asda and Family Mobile

They've made some effort on international rates, though don't compete with the specialist mvno brands - EU, Australia, New Zealand India and Pakistan are 8p landlines, 16p mobiles, USA & Canada 8p both, texts to all these 8p. Other int'l calls aren't competitive at £1.

roaming at Eurotariff, £1 a minute elsewhere

interesting bits - freephone calls are free, which is very uncommon here; the only other I know is BT Mobile, which is no longer available on prepaid (I have an old one)

they support call forwarding, which I believe only Family Mobile also does, but I'll have to wait until the SIM arrives to test if that will include international

giffgaff - UK MVNO
 

I found this today reading some news here: Unlimited calls, texts and data from Giffgaff

their website is: giffgaff - The people-powered mobile network - get involved and earn cash - pay as you go mobile phone sim cards - giffgaff

looks interesting, anyone having more informations about them?

Yes. They are a part of o2/Telefonica.

You can get free calls to other GiffGaff users and free data useage up until the 25th of May 2010. Also unique is the fact that you can call UK freephone numbers (starting 0800) for free with them.

They have already been talked about and have a thread here:

[threads now merged - A]

Does anyone have any idea what GiffGaff's standard data rate will be after the 25th of May?

There has been some discussion of a couple of draft ideas, and I expect a formal announcement soon. At the moment it looks likely it will be 20 pence per megabyte for low use, 50p per day cap for up to 30 MB, 20p/MB for overshooting that. Also there are monthly add-on bundle options which combine calls and unlimited texts and internet.

edit: formally announced this afternoon, as above

Thanks. Is their European roaming charged the same as for o2? i.e. £3/MB? I cannot see their data roaming rates on giffgaff - pricing

That tariff hasn't been announced yet.

So far, roaming data use has been barred, until the free data ends

The new domestic data rate for after the 25th of May has finally been announced:

It will be charged at 20p/MB. A daily cap will be applied after 50p have been spent (i.e. 2.5MB) which is valid for up to 30MB. After that you'll be charged again at the same 20p/MB rate).

Any idea whether it is possible to activate a Giffgaff SIM outside the UK?

No, or probably not.

They don't accept foreign debit or credit cards, or post to foreign addresses, and there is some ambiguity whether they also have IP address measures.

I was told the IP part a few months ago by a support agent in respect of topping up myself, and that they might be reviewing this later. So at that point I might have to either set up automatic top-up in advance or call in with a voucher number, options which wouldn't apply to activation. However, on the forum, some people have seemed to managed from some countries more recently,though others still could not.

However, I could arrange something (including bonus credit for the SIM), and maybe post to you, either active or to be done on arrival here (giffgaff or O2 vouchers can be used). I'll also contact support to see if there is any update on the position.

Giffgaff is raising its call prices to 10p/min and texts to 6p on 6 October:

Changes to call and text prices - The giffgaff community

It's still a good deal, though.