RUMOUR: Post Office to launch mobile network?
Ahh the Post Office. A British Institution, but increasingly outdated these days? I haven’t heard the phrase “snail mail” in a good long time. In an effort to stave off the dinosaur accusations, the Guardian reckons that the Post Office is soon to launch a mobile phone service to add to its broadband and home phone packages.
The network wouldn’t involve putting up new transmitters – instead it would piggyback on existing ones, courtesy of a technology called MVNO – mobile virtual network operators. That’s how Tesco et al run their networks, too. The triple-play of broadband, home and mobile phone will probably resonate well with lower-income households who, according to reports, are already going nuts over the no-frills broadband and home phone packages that the Post Office already offer.
This move could also resonate well with the few households who don’t have mobile phones already. Eighty per cent of the users of the Post Office’s broadband service hadn’t previously had broadband, and half had never even used the internet before. Households or older people without a mobile phone might find this service, from a company that they trust and visit regularly, to be much more appealing than more youthful competitors.
Post Office (via ITProPortal)
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