Giffgaff is a brand new virtual network running under O2, with a twist: it gets cheaper the more you help out! Can crowdsourcing mobile phone services work?
Giffgaff already offers some cheap deals for pay as you go PAYG phones – calls cost just 8p per minute to landlines and other networks, while texts are 4p. It’s even struck deals abroad so you’ll get low prices (16p to mobiles) in 36 destinations around the world no matter what time. Calls and texts between Giffgaff phones meanwhile are completely free.
Here’s where Giffgaff gets interesting though: it encourages you to help out other Giffgaff users. If you help out on the forums, get someone to join or help Giffgaff’s marketing team with ideas and promotion, you get Payback points. Each of these is worth a penny (Getting someone to join is worth 500, or £5) which you can then convert to mobile credit, cash or charity donations.
In other words, if you’ve got an unlocked handset going spare and a bit of downtime to dive into the forums at lunch everyday, you might never have to pay for your phone again. Not a bad idea, eh? Keep an eye out on the Giffgaff forums first to see how it works out in practice, and have a peep at the concept video here.
Out Now | £varies | Giffgaff
