Samba Mobile Closing Down

powerful_Rogue

Another one bites the dust. Just received the email through.

[FONT=&quot]You may have heard via the website, a friend or social media that Samba has had to take the difficult decision to close. We hope that you, our customers, have been happy with the value exchange received over the last two years. Below you will find answers to FAQs.

We would like to thank you for all your support. We know that a lot of you have really appreciated the service, and we have, in return, very much appreciated your loyalty to Samba and your support of our proposition to friends and family.

We have provided free mobile broadband, but also an alternative to interruptive video advertising models, and have, for the most part, with your participation, proven that people are quite happy to view video ads when they are in control of the experience and get something in return. We will be using this learning in future projects.

However, it is with sadness that today we have closed the service, and we understand and appreciate you will need to find alternatives to Samba. We have made suggestions of where to look at the bottom of the FAQs below.

To paraphrase the late Douglas Adams, so long and thanks for all the views...[/FONT]

http://www.sambamobile.com/Ads

rpb

Ovivo closed down so I switched to Samba. At least I'll *allegedly* get my £2.50 back!

Anyone got any recommendations for an alternative? I'm a low data user so most monthly/PAYG packages work out *very* expensive for just the occasional connection when I don't have WiFi - either the rate is outrageous or losing your balance at the end of each month makes it so.

Chorlie

rpb wrote: »

Ovivo closed down so I switched to Samba. At least I'll *allegedly* get my £2.50 back!

Anyone got any recommendations for an alternative? I'm a low data user so most monthly/PAYG packages work out *very* expensive for just the occasional connection when I don't have WiFi - either the rate is outrageous or losing your balance at the end of each month makes it so.

I did the same....

I built up about 500mb from watching (ok not watching, just playing the video Adverts).

I thought something was up since when I joined the Adverts were between 30sec to 1min long, they became less and of late they were 2mins to 3mins long and the data seemed to be used up quicker than with my old 1GB Vodaphone Sim.

Currys were selling Three 1GB / 30 day sims for £2.99 a couple of weeks ago, so I bought several of those.

The only other option is to Teether to your phone, but that depends on you mobile contract / deal and your phone.

andyt8

Seems the "free data" idea won't work. Now looking out for some other provider for my tablet data sim. All the ones that run out after 30days are not good as I am a very low user of data. Only needing it when no WiFi coverage. PAYG with 3 maybe the way on their 3-2-1 sim. I could afford 1p per meg on the little use I give it.

Chorlie

andyt8 wrote: »

Seems the "free data" idea won't work. Now looking out for some other provider for my tablet data sim. All the ones that run out after 30days are not good as I am a very low user of data. Only needing it when no WiFi coverage. PAYG with 3 maybe the way on their 3-2-1 sim. I could afford 1p per meg on the little use I give it.

3’s 321 won't work in a Tablet (well in my iPad) I've tried it. But when I put it into an older phone and link it via Bluetooth it does work ;-)

Now if I could find a very cheap 4G phone....

Zanderman

rpb wrote: »

Anyone got any recommendations for an alternative? I'm a low data user so most monthly/PAYG packages work out *very* expensive for just the occasional connection when I don't have WiFi - either the rate is outrageous or losing your balance at the end of each month makes it so.

We're also low data users when out and about - and had been using three Samba sims in three dongles to keep things flexible - so a bit gutted by Samba going under.

In terms of alternatives, we previously used T-mobile's £20 for 6 months data bundle - and still have that on one family smartphone that is only used when away at weekends etc. Only 500MB a month I think - but enough for occasional low use.

I assume it's available to new customers still - but is based on a phone not a dongle, so to use on a pc you either need to plug it in as a modem or tether with wi-fi (though that may be against T&C).

Will be looking into it for another 'disused' smartphone now to help replace the Sambe facilty.

Edited to add - here's the T-Mobile £20 6MONTHWEB booster details:

Pay as you go customer? If you have a compatible phone, you can text 6MONTHWEB to 441 for free from your T-Mobile phone to buy our 6-month Booster giving you 6 months of unlimited internet browsing on your phone.

We'll send you a text to let you know when your Booster is ready to use. We'll start counting your 6 months straight away and we will let you know when your Booster runs out.

If you choose an Android phone, as it's always connected to the internet, once your Booster has run out you'll then automatically be charged up to £1 a day to browse the internet. See the legal stuff and fair use policy at https://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/uk/fairuse/

You'll need internet coverage, check it at http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/streetcheck Remember that you can only use internet on your phone in the UK and you can't use your phone as a modem or use internet on your phone for peer-to-peer file sharing, or making internet phone calls.

This Booster comes with a fair use policy of 1GB a month. We'll monitor how much you send and receive each calendar month so that we can protect our network for all our customers. If you use more than your fair use policy amount, we won't charge you any more, but we may restrict how you can use internet on your phone, depending on how often you go over your amount and by how much.

It's 1GB per month not the 500MB I was thinking - which is better - but there may be tethering etc restrictions.

Zanderman

debrew wrote: »

why they are closing the mobile? Is there any thing wrong or problem with the mobile company.

Well, yes, obviously, as they're closing down!

Here's the main info from their email circular:

Samba closing down. Thanks to all our customers.
Dear Customers,

You may have heard via the website, a friend or social media that Samba has had to take the difficult decision to close. We hope that you, our customers, have been happy with the value exchange received over the last two years. Below you will find answers to FAQs.

We would like to thank you for all your support. We know that a lot of you have really appreciated the service, and we have, in return, very much appreciated your loyalty to Samba and your support of our proposition to friends and family.

We have provided free mobile broadband, but also an alternative to interruptive video advertising models, and have, for the most part, with your participation, proven that people are quite happy to view video ads when they are in control of the experience and get something in return. We will be using this learning in future projects.

However, it is with sadness that today we have closed the service, and we understand and appreciate you will need to find alternatives to Samba. We have made suggestions of where to look at the bottom of the FAQs below.

To paraphrase the late Douglas Adams, so long and thanks for all the views...


FAQs
• Why is Samba closing down?

Samba is closing principally due to the high cost of wholesale data. This makes the current model of offering a meaningful value exchange of mobile broadband unsustainable. The data service will shut down with immediate effect; there is no guarantee we will be able to switch data back on unless negotiations with partners result in lower costs for Samba. Thank you all for your loyalty, feedback and recommendations to friends and family since we launched in 2012.
• Why didn’t you tell us in advance?

We have been in negotiations with our wholesale data partners trying to cut the right deal to continue, but unfortunately this has not been possible. We have to pay for data in advance and, as we have reached the end of the latest billing period without agreement on lower costs, we have had to stop offering our service with immediate effect.
• Can I get a refund for my SIM or Dongle?

All Samba customers who bought a SIM or Dongle in April 2014 will receive a refund. This will be paid into the PayPal account that was used to pay for the original Samba order by Thursday 1st May 2014.
• Can I get a refund on my Samba credit?

All Samba customers who bought a cash top-up that has not expired will be refunded for any unused data on their cash top-up. This will be paid into the PayPal account that was used to pay for the cash top-up by Thursday 1st May 2014.

No money will be paid for Samba credit that was earned from watching ads.

andyt8

@Zanderman; Thanks for that useful info. Was not aware of that six month offer.

d123

blue_max wrote: »

I have over 22 GB with Samba but don't feel scared at all.

Samba and Ovivo has important differences.
Ovivo was one man band in practice. Samba on the other hand was funded with venture capital and is advised capable business brains.
With the business model of Ovivo, calls could be made without watching any ads. With Samba ads needs to be watched before earning any credit. So its revenue is 100% ad supported.
Company research pages show that finances of Samba Communications Limited is in good shape.

Looks like there weren't that many differences.

Perhaps you should have been a little scared .

patman99

The difference is that Samba are closing down due to increased data costs. However, they are still in negotiations with data wholesalers so may well be back up and running soon.

They proved that ad-supported free mobile internet does work.

To be honest though, it might have been more prudent to offer a lower data allowance per advert (say 2mb rather than the 3.75Mb) in the short term as this would have offset the costs of data purchased from '3' against their wholesale data bill from their webhosts.

If they can find a cheaper wholesaler for data, then they will be back up and running.

anselld

What is the final end date?