Blyk: limitations apply

Pekka Ala-Pietila, co-founder and CEO of incoming ad-funded MVNO, Blyk, has revealed that free calls and messages will not be unlimited when the carrier launches in the UK this summer.

In an interview that will appear in the May edition of telecoms.com’s sister publication, Mobile Communications International, Ala-Pietila – former president of Finnish handset giant Nokia – said that the firm has calculated exactly how much advertising it will need to sell to subsidise each user.

If free calls and messages were to be limitless, he said, the required amount of advertising would be so large as to create an intolerable user experience.

Blyk has received a good deal of coverage, its ad-funded business model has not been tried before and the headline free calls offer has captured the media’s attention but most details about the offering remain unknown.

Ala-Pietila would not confirm whether there would be a monthly subscription charge, or what format the adverts will take upon launch.