Ad-funded mobile broadband launched in the UK
Samba, introduced in the UK in Three’s network, is a mobile broadband service for iPads, laptops and notebooks. The service is unique because it is ad-funded.
The Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) allows user to watch video advertisements and he will get free credit. In other words, if the user watches advertisements for 2.5 minutes per day, he can earn as much data as that a 3G tablet user consumes per month. The user has the choice to select the advertisement. Samba will take care that the advertisement will have nothing to do with browsing behaviour.
On watching the advertisement, the user can avail the credit and can share the fact on social networks. Every ad will grant around 3.5 MB of free data. In general, the user watches three advertisements per day, thus enabling him to view about 30 web pages and send around 100 mails.
Samba will decide the number of ads a user can watch. It will also restrict the number of times an ad is watched.
The user has the option to buy top ups of 250 MB and 500 MB, which will be available for £3.49 and £5.99 respectively. Samba credit can also be earned while the user makes purchases through Pricegrabber or or iTunes.
Samba was introduced in the UK by Ben Atherton of Orange in 2010. Irish business magnet Denis O’Brien, the owner of Digicel, the leading Caribbean telecom company, provided the necessary finance. Atherton informed that a careful study of Blyk, another ad-funded mobile service was done before the launch of Samba and decided to improve upon the offered exchange value.
With Samba the user is at an advantage of watching the advertisement at his choice and earning the credit. He does not have to rush to a library or restaurant or something like that to get online. He has the privilege of being online all the time wherever he may be.
