European smartphone shipments suffer worst slump in a decade
Samsung slumps 25 per cent and iPhone 14 sales fail to ignite
Staff Reporter
February 24, 2023
New lease of life for ethical MVNO operator which ceased trading four years ago
Uplands Mobiles has acquired the name of defunct MVNO The People’s Operator (TPO) which specialised in refurbished mobiles before it crashed in February 2019 and entered administration seven years after its 2012 launch.
The People’s Operator was a Three MVNO. It expanded to the USA as an MVNO of Sprint and T-Mobile. It was set up as an ethical mobile network operator by its three co-founders Andrew Rosenfeld, Tom Gutteridge and Mark Epstein.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales once took a stake and became co-chair of the board but ended his association with the company in 2017.
“When TPO originally launched conditions were very different. There was not as much of a refurbishment market or an environmental focus. Consumers are now seeing no drop in quality from buying refurbished handsets. There is a shift towards sourcing products more sustainably” said Uplands Mobiles MD Paul Hooper.
“We’re excited to bring TPO back to the UK and looking forward to working with customers and partners who care about the environment and supporting good causes. We’ve been working to ensure we rival other mobile companies” said Hooper.
Hooper says the new smartphone market is in decline and will shrink nine per cent annually as consumers fail to buy into the incremental improvements that new handsets offer.
“There is a shift towards buying refurbished products that have a longer shelf life and still provide a flawless user experience. TPO is capitalising on this market swing by offering customers a more sustainable way of purchasing and recycling their old devices”.Tje
Uplands will donate10 per cent of profits to charities such as Hope and Homes for Children, who it has worked with as well as major national and local charities,