Free Mobile Phone Calls for Young People, through Blyk

Remember all the things that you have received until now for free, but every time you were asked in return to support some advertisements? Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) will rent airtime from France Telecom's Orange and provide subscribers with free calls in exchange for their agreeing to receive ads on their handsets, through a service called Blyk.

MVNO relies on an interesting concept that has not been used until now. Few mobile phone users are responsive to ads received on their handsets and making them accept this type of alerts is quite difficult. The company wants to make this target feel like it's worth it to be more receptive to such messages by offering something in return. And what can be more useful than some talk time minutes?

The target that they are aiming at is ranged from 16 to 24-year-olds, one that has most chances of opening up to this kind of change. Youngsters are most likely to accept mobile advertising and will also appreciate the extra talk time, as they usually use their mobile phones intensely. Moreover, they are the ones spending a great amount of money on a wide variety of products, as they usually go by the moment impulse and rarely think in perspective.

Who could be behind the MVNO company and this ingenious tactic? The advertising-funded model for mobile calls has been developed by Eric Schmidt, the Google chief executive, who collaborated with Pekka Ala-Pietila, the former president of Nokia. Blyk has high chances of being successful and also opening the door for other similar initiatives.

The service asks from the users to fill in details on their spending habits and planned purchases on a website. In return, they receive free minutes to use just as they wish. Advertisers later use that information in order to target consumers with promotions and vouchers. Moreover, the launch of Blyk and other similar advertisement-based services suggests that the telecom market could move towards an internet-style business model.