[Hands0n]

Well, it had to be done. No?

Their current promotion is £5 for a SIM and they give you another £5 credit on top - so that is a princely £10 to spend as I like on their current tariff. That is currently 2p for SMS text an 6p per minute for voice calls. These will rise to 6p per text and 15p per minute (billed per second) after June '05.

I ordered my SIM today at 16:00 Saturday 14 May 2005. They claim next day delivery, so the first opportunity for them to honour that commitment will be Monday 16 May.

The "experience" of using their Website to choose a mobile number (Normal, not Gold) was effortless. Within a few minutes of accessing the website I had chosen a number, registered my details and made my initial £5 payment. Instantly I was able to access my account area to see the invoice etc. From there I am also able to admin my account on-line without human intervention. Everything is crystal clear and understandable. "Effortless" is the word that springs to mind. Just how things should be.

So far so good.

Further postings on here vis a vis the initial experience will be made once the SIM has arrived. I will be testing it in a number of unlocked 2/2.5G and 3G handsets. The results will appear on here in due course, or as I complete each experience.

As they say in the papers ..... watch this space.

[3GScottishUser]

You mentioned in another thread that you had overlooked T-Mobile so far...... not now as they provide the network for EasyMobile in the UK.

Don't be too surprised if the initial promotion is'nt extended as the war with Fresh is far from over and now Vodafone and others are making things even more competitive.

[Hands0n]

@3GSU - yea I knew they were T-Mobile hosted. My prejudice of T-Mobile is a bit unfair, it goes back to the days when it was called One2One - remember them? It was really cr*ppy then - dirt cheap - but cr*ppy all the same. Hmmmm, not much changes in new launches then :)

They've come on leaps and bounds over the years. I've never been particularly attracted to their tariffs though and a surf over their website today has not convinced me otherwise.

Not being a particular fan of Stelios' ventures, especially after seeing the Airline series, which puts me off the very notion of ever flying with them. But their Easymobile website is compelling and for a Fiver it will be a good little distraction from the daily dirge of working for a living.

Re extending the promotion - I reckon you'll be right there. It is an attractive proposition and it would be rather foolish (I'd say) to scupper it before it has had much of a chance to pull in the punters.

I've told a lot of my colleagues and friends about Easymobile. "Easy who?" is the unanimous response - no-one has heard of this venture! They are going to have to do better than rely on word of mouth to make this a go'er.

More as it 'appens :)

[Hands0n]

Monday 16 May 2005 - 48 hours later

Actually, much less than 48 hours really. This morning, at 11.32 to be precise, saw the arrival of an email from easyMobile.com confirming my SIM number which has to be entered onto the online service to activate the SIM and mobile number. Within the email some useful information and reminders. So they have actioned my application within the first couple hours of the normal working day. Thats good, so far.

The morning post came and went without sign of the SIM itself - but then I was not really anticipating receipt of the thing seeing as I had ordered the facility on a Saturday evening. Unless the Royal Mail :p do something silly with my post I should receive the chip tomorrow (Tuesday).

The spare mobile is sitting on my study desk waiting for its new food :)

----- Contents of easyMobile's email -------

Dear ****** ********

The following information is valid for the SIM card no: ************

PIN code: 1210 (It is possible for you to change this code yourself)
PUK code: ********

easyMobile number: 07962******

You cannot reply to this email.

You can find the answer to most questions on www.easyMobile.com, by clicking on the Customer Service tab.

If you need further help, please click "Contact us" found in the Customer Service tab.

Customer service hours:
Monday to Friday from 9 am to 8 pm, Weekends and Bank Holidays from 9 am to 6 pm.

Best regards

easyMobile
www.easyMobile.com

[getti]

Im sorry to see you have joined them. Limited hours for CS? Whats that all about

[Jon3G]

Handson

Did you get the sim today

[Hands0n]

@Getti - Not so much "joined" them but sampling their wares. The "join" is completely non-committal. I can stop using the service any time I like, or not. My Orange and H3 contracts persist until the end of the year and Jan 2006 respectively.

[Hands0n]

Handson

Did you get the sim today

Yup, the SIM arrived in the morning post. It comes de-activated so I went on the website and activated it online. It claims to take up to 2 hours to activate so I went to work. Tonight, when I returned from work I popped it into a T610 and it has immediately come up with the "easyMobile" service name. All I need to do now is put in the SMS Service Centre number and I'll be able to talk and text on it. That comes next, after din dins. I'll report on the quality etc, in the next 24 hours or so.

So far, I am quite impressed with the slickness of everything.

I have yet to try out their Customer Services - they do a phone-speak-to-a-person service, as well as an IRC-style online chat to the CS ops (during their hours of service of course). I'll have to come up with a couple of CS enquiries.

[3g-g]

Can you send MMS and Video clips via easymob? A la 2.5G? You can't use them for data, is that right?

[Hands0n]

At first glance there does not appear to be any MMS (via GPRS or WAP) - that will have to be my question for their CS when they come in to work :eek:

The self-care website has detals of SMS Messge Centre number only!

I'd be surprised if there were no MMS - that'd be quite a disadvantage against the other PAYG offerings. Is this typical Stelios corner cutting? Will have to find out.

There is no data at all.

[Ben]

"I'd be surprised if there were no MMS"

So would I - I mean, I know it's 'no-frills', but come on, in 2005 a mobile with no MMS is a bit like an aeroplane with no wings! I knew there was a reason I don't fly EasyJet ;)

[Hands0n]

The MMS settings have to be changed manually (or maybe their CS can send a service text message ala Orange). The handset has retained its Orange MMS settings! No work on the support website about what to use!

I'll ask their CS later today when I finish work.

[Ben]

Righty, I've just signed up too. Think I'll use it for texting! Will report back with how I get on. The signup process was simple enough.

[Hands0n]

Wot? No MMS??
I have not had a chance to contact easyMobile's CS as I've been working while they've been in and I've only been in when they're out! Perhaps this is not such a good thing as 24x7 CS from the other ops. But what can one expect from an "easyAnything"? Yer pays yer money and yer takes yer choice, me ole ma used to say.

Not entirely miffed though. I can wait till a better time to find out about the MMS side of things. Their website suggests that it can be done, but no word about how or where to find out. It is intriguing though.

The SIM
The easyMobile SIM is as boring as a very boring thing. Plain white and unmarked, it looks like it has been prepared by some kid in a lock up. No trace of it being easyMobile or anything else. Completely unbranded! I've had to write on it with marker pen to make sure I can remember what it is among the other SIMS in my SIM box (yes, I actually have one of those!). I suppose it is distinct by its lack of distinctiveness!!

My unlocked LG U8120 did not like it at all and got all sniffy with it, now it only accepts 3 USIMs again so I'll have to go unlock it all over again! I am not sure if its the easyMobile SIMs fault or something else! My unlocked A835 thinks its the dogs nuts, came up immediately. As did my unlocked Orange SE T610, and Vodafone Samsung T100.

In use
The user experience of easyMobile's network though is pleasant enough. Calls are as clear and reliable as one would expect from a 2G/2.5G network. Texts are instantly transferred to my other networks (Orange and Three). The online portal is great, all the info about my account is there. There seems to be little-to-no need to contact their CS for basic account management - hmmmm just how it should be!

What can I say? I can phone. I can text, and it simply works, simply! The cherry on top is that it's [currently] ultra cheap too.

So let me see if I've got this quite right. It's Stelios branding of Telmore UK operating on T-Mobile infrastructure. Any more players in the equation?

Their website says

easyMobile intends to bring mobile telephony services to customers that offer the best mix of quality, service and attractive prices.

The service is modelled upon the hugely successful Danish mobile service launched in 2001 by Telmore - now owned by TDC. Telmore has reached a market share of more than 10% in Denmark since its launch in 2001, making Telmore one of the most successful service providers in Europe.

One notable feature of Telmore's service is the use of the Internet as the only sales and distribution channel.

According to independent surveys conducted by PLS Ramboll and Gallup, Telmore has the most satisfied and loyal customers in Denmark within the mobile telephony market. easyMobile is determined to achieve similar results in the UK.

easyMobile is a partnership between Telmore UK Limited and the easyGroup combining the operating expertise of TDC and the brand values and marketing expertise of easyGroup.

[Hands0n]

I finally got onto the Customer Services chatline, quite a good service really. I "spoke" with one of their CS reps to ask about MMS availability on easyMobile. They were able to confirm that MMS is currently not supported on easyMobile.

I went on to ask if it was something that would be coming in the near future. The answer was that it would not be so in the near future, but that it was planned to come. I guess they have to at least try and compete on an even play field. But for now, they've got enough potential business with the rudimentary (!) services of voice and text. On that I would largely agree - although the more I play with MMS the more I enjoy the experience. But thats for another thread :)

As a "basic" telephone & text service, then, easyMobile is hard to beat on ease of subscription, tariff value, and quality.

Would I use it as my primary mobile facility? For my job of work it would suit me just fine so the answer could be "yes". For my personal use, again probably but I would miss the MMS fairly soon, so the answer is "no". Pick the bones out of that little lot then :) It really is a matter of personal preference!

[solo12002]

Lets see what happends at the end of June if they go back to 15ppm for all calls, it may not be a good text, virgin is 15p for first 5 mins then 5p after that pls voicemail is free, text to other virgins is 3p. A lot will depend on ther x network charges at that point

[Ben]

Got my SIM this morning :) Loaded it into an old 8210, activated it, and all seems good! The EasyMobile website seems pretty fantastic, even printed me off a nice VAT invoice.

[solo12002]

Oh Ben

we've back to money again do you earn that much that you reclain VAT!!

[Hands0n]

Lets see what happends at the end of June if they go back to 15ppm for all calls

@Solo12002 - The thing is, regardless of what easyMobile actually do in June, we - the Customer - are beginning to get spoiled for choice. I see a vague parallel between this situation and credit cards and bank accounts and the shakeup that has happened there over the past few years. Finally some, albeit very muted, competition is starting to creep into the mobile scene. Perhaps the cartel (oops, did I really say that?) is beginning to fall apart at the seams.

I think that I welcome the growth of MVNOs in the UK - especially if they can turn the applecart over and bring on some decent free market trading. A nice little shake-out is long overdue.

If Stelios cannot compete with the likes of Virgin come June then he will feel the pinch. So will he or wont he? The next 40-odd days will tell. My [free] Virgin SIMs arrived two weeks ago, they're in the SIM box and ready to go :)

[Jon3G]

Oh Ben

we've back to money again do you earn that much that you reclain VAT!!


any business can reclaim Vat. Its best to only claim VAT if its in your interest to do so or if you are over the VAT limit

[Hands0n]

Well, here we are, 1st June and a few weeks gone by with the easyMobile SIM running in an unlocked LG U8110 at the moment - it has been in a Samsung T100, an SE T610 and an Ericsson T68 (not "i").

All is tickaboo, everything that easyMobile says they will do ... they do! There is no MMS as Ben and I have already found out, so if thats what spins your wheels or floats your boat then easyMobile is not for you.

Coverage - well it is T-Mobile network infrastructure so I would anticipate very good coverage in line with the main network users. That anticipation is met very well.

Clarity - voice calls are crisp and clear, no issues with call set-up and in-call quality. It all works very well.

SMS - how fast can a network get? SMS sent from easyMobile to other networks gets through instantly. Not a single lost message, all have been delivered promptly.

Incoming - so far all calls have hit the phone, none have gone to voicemail instead (something that happens on Orange quite a lot it seems..... I get it occasionally on my 2.5G O'contract handset)

On-Line Admin - this is the dogs doo doo's. No need to speak with anyone at all really, although if you must they do have a Customer Service number and IRC chat facility on the website. Lots of simple FAQ and Help is also no the site. Admin'ning your easyMobile is a piece of cake. All done through the website. Others take note, there are quite a few things that really should be automated like this - we really do not "need" to speak with CS reps to register a Credit Card or active International Roaming etc....

I think it is probably fair to sum up the easyMobile service as something of a retro-mobile service in terms of facilities. It provides only the basic > facilities (Voice and SMS Text), nothing more. But it provides these extremely and efficiently well.

The only remaining thing to see is whether or not Stelios keeps the tariff as low as it currently is, or if he brings it up to the full price as advertised on the website. If he does, he may find that he is no longer competitive with the likes of Virgin, another MVNO. The end of June should reveal all.

Meanwhile, pay easyMobile £5 for their SIM and you get it in a day or two pre-loaded with £10 credit. 100% profit within a week, not a bad investment by any book :)