A company called Mapesbury Communications Ltd has announced that it has signed a deal with Spectrum Interactive (UK) for the rights to broadcast a GSM service from payphone kiosks.
It says that this will be the start of a new mobile phone service called UK01. According to Magnus Kelly, the CEO of Mapesbury, the agreement is, “an important milestone as it accelerates our ability to launch the UK’s 6th mobile phone network.”
Can this really be the 6th mobile operator? Does having the ability to send out a signal from ‘hundreds’ of phone boxes really mean we can start talking about a national operator?
If you sign up with UK01 they will send you a new SIM card, which once inserted into your phone, and once you are close to a UK01 location, allows you to make calls. There’s not a lot of information on the website, but the advantages of signing up with UK01, are described as:
“When you begin using the UK01 service not only will you be able to make fantastic savings on the calls you make, you will also receive your very own UK01 phone number.”
However, I did notice one very big disadvantage too – “When you leave the UK01 location simply change SIM cards.”
This means no roaming between networks as yet and, from what we can see, a very small network to use. Anyone else want to join me hanging around phone boxes to get cheaper calls?
Anyone else fancy a spot of Rabbit hunting?
They can't even afford to pay for stock images: http://www.uk01.mobi/images/1925940_celltower.jpg
And “UK01 local mobile phone service is available in a growing number of locations, look for on site UK01 branding and introduction material.
UK01 services are also available from any telephone even when outside UK01 coverage areas and offers excellent value with full messaging support for both voice and SMS.”
So where can I buy one today, now? “Is Available” means what? It actually *Is Available* now, or in 12 months? or is this just another super example of the mobile industry taking words like Free, Unlimited, Open etc and applying their own definitions? Except UK01 have now redefined present & future.
Oh, and here's a link to the veritable plethora of people clamouring to deal with the parent company.
{tumbleweed} was never more appropriate.
'nuff said.
Next.
Hmmm reminds me of something!
Oh CLASS
A plethorasaurus of partners!
Is this “The Curse Of The Where Rabbit”?
This is fascinating… you have to wonder whether Mapesbury have some secret agenda in bringing this to market. If it were April 1st then I'd be convinced.
Ignoring all the fucked-company signs from the outset (.mobi, the stock photo thing, missing pages, typo'd html, EMEI when they mean IMEI, etc etc etc) the service is clearly rubbish. Presumably with the hope to eventually be able to offer “poor” coverage (rather than none at all), from base stations located on an already diminishing number of vandalism-prone phone boxes. Then you've either got to muck about changing SIMs, or, if you don't want to do that you can instead mess around with the settings on the handset, which amounts to much the same thing; ignoring the fact that they presumably have NO WAY WHATSOEVER to authenticate the handset.
Sure changing the IMEI of a handset is illegal; but it's also technically trivial.
Who would fund such a thing?
Patrick, this sounds soooo much like Rabbit
See http://tinyurl.com/3f8b6h to look at how this was done in the 90's
Andrew
not really thought it thru have they!
now what they really should be doing is if they could link up with truphone, or someone else who has roaming sim cars in place then this may work!
“Anyone else want to join me hanging around phone boxes to get cheaper calls?”
Sorry, restraining orders and all that – stupid legal system.
🙂
M
now what they really should be doing is if they could link up with truphone, or someone else who has roaming sim cars in place then this may work!
“Anyone else want to join me hanging around phone boxes to get cheaper calls?”
Sorry, restraining orders and all that – stupid legal system.
🙂
M
i have heard about it that this network make cheap calls i would like to use it
i have heard about it that this network make cheap calls i would like to use it
how to get uk01 sim card