Over the years we’ve seen a number of MVNO’s here in the UK attempting to give you something for nothing but, each and every time, they’ve failed. First we tried Ovivo, then we tried Samba Mobile but both went pop fairly quickly and customers were left without service.
Now FreedomPop is here and they actually have some experience in this field – they’ve been in operation in the USA for a while now and here in the UK they’re doing a similar thing. A free service alongside paid-for options.
The basic free option gives you 200MB of data, 200 minutes and 200 texts, although as I write the “beta” is offering a little more for new customers. So, I ordered a SIM and went through the ordering process skipping the additional options for roll-over minutes, voicemail and usage alerts. You can add them in later if you wish.
After paying £6.99 for delivery and activation, the SIM card arrives. You’ll need an unlocked phone and it’s recommended that you install the FreedomPop apps. There’s iPhone and Android apps and I quickly found out that I needed to get the FreedomPop Messenger app to get phone calls to actually work. This is a central point for checking how much data, minutes and texts you’ve used, plus you can try their “Premium Voice” service, switch your plan and add global calling. As an example, for 99p per month you get 100 minutes to call America, India and many other countries. The app also lets you get visual voicemail and it acts as a central place for you to make calls and send / receive texts.
I’ve filmed a quick video to show you a little more. You can add more data to your plan by completing offers – something we saw on the Samba service. The app also has a few mentions of “dollars” here and there, which is a bit of a carry-over from the US operation, but it’s not a job-stopper. It’s free at the end of the day..
As FreedomPop runs on the Three network, coverage and data speeds is great. I’ve also had cause to contact their support team, who are great. For me, 200MB per month just isn’t enough, but it’s a great SIM for kids, elderly relatives and people who really don’t need a great deal of data per month.
For the £6.99 delivery charge, why not? If you do find that you need more data, it’s simple enough to switch up plans in the app.