The ad-funded MVNO Blyk has finally admitted its business model has failed and will look to pass its 200,000 UK users over to Orange.
Blyk said it will give customers four weeks' notice of termination and urge them to sign up directly with Orange on an as-yet-undecided contract.
So far Blyk claims to have run over 500 advertising campaigns, with an average response rate of 29% --a figure significantly higher than average for any kind of mobile advertising, which is typically around 6%.
But Blyk has now accepted that 200,000 customers are not enough to support the costs associated with running an MVNO, given that it has been unable to push the number of users above that level.
Orange UK, which hosted Blyk's MVNO service, is understood to be keen to include an ad-funded mobile proposition as it pushes to become a media business rather than just a mobile operator.
It believes offering ad-funded calls and SMS to advertisers can be a valuable element of a cross-platform inventory, which also includes its re-emerging online ad network and portal
Meanwhile, Vodafone in the Netherlands has agreed to offer an ad-funded mobile service, but with Vodafone itself providing the mobile infrastructure, and Blyk providing ad serving and ad sales under Vodafone's brand.
