Ikea Launches UK Mobile Phone Service
By Christopher Nickson
August 07, 2008
The Swedish furniture store starts a pay-as-you-go mobile phone service for its loyalty scheme members in Britain tomorrow.
It’s amazing, perhaps, but the phone service Ikea will begin offering the 1.4 million members of its loyalty scheme in Britain tomorrow doesn’t come in flat pack.
According to the Guardian, Ikea phone users will piggy-back on the T-Mobile network in what’s called a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), copying similar deals offered by big chains like Wal Mart-owned Asda, Tesco and Carphone Warehouse.
The Ikea pay-as-you-go network has no minimum monthly charge and simply requires a minimum $20 airtime purchase. The company is giving all its 9,500 British staff handsets and $10 worth of calls.
Mobile network operators love deals like this, since it allows them to use otherwise empty capacity.