50p a spam?
Anyone who mails me that crap will promptly find themselves blocked.
You can't monetise a community.
GiffGaff, O2's venture into democratic MVNOs, has launched, and its forums are already groaning with customers asking inane questions that other customers struggle to answer. GiffGaff is supposed to be run by its customers, who can earn credit or cash by answering other customers' questions, signing up more people, or …
The prices are as good as you get on pre-pay, and for standard calls/SMS match Asda Mobile (MVNO of Vodafone). With GiffGaff you also get free calls and SMS to other GiffGaff numbers, which could be useful for some people.
Making the claim that they can offer you cheaper calls because they're "people powered" is a marketing gimmick though. How much do the mobile networks spend on customer service for their pre-pay segment? Maybe an average of 50p per customer/month but we will never know the exact figure. So GiffGaff may be able to make a small saving this way, but not enough to make a noticeable impact in the price you pay for using their service.
Still, it will be an interesting one to watch. Hope they don't go the same way as Easy Mobile, Blyk and Dot Mobile.
I see what Bill means about inane. Today's masterpiece is a thread which starts with a link to one user's tasteful series of photos in Flickr, sycophantically unwrapping the semi-origami styled envelope the SIM comes in - which is then going to be thrown away! At the time I write this, it has garnered 4 of the forum's so-called kudos points so far, and promises of referral credit from one or two new sign-ups.