The Post Office is shutting down its year-old mobile network
We hardly knew ye.
Competition among mobile providers in the UK is fierce, with four major carriers and many, many more mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) beneath them. On a battlefield that busy, casualties are inevitable, and already this year we've seen Mobile by Sainsbury's put out to pasture. And now we have another fatality, with the Post Office confirming the closure of its mobile service on August 8th. According to the online notice, the Post Office "decided to conclude the trial as the results did not give us sufficient confidence that mobile will contribute to our goal of commercial sustainability."
In other words, it's not making any money. It's interesting that the Post Office is now referring to its mobile business as a "trial," which isn't how we remember it being communicated at launch less than a year ago. The service never grew beyond offering a single pay-as-you-go SIM, though, and only 263 of some 11,600 branches ended up stocking SIMs in-store.
If you happen to be among the undoubtedly small customer base, know that June 22nd will be the last day you can top up. And should you have grown particularly attached to your Post Office Mobile number, then make sure to request a PAC code soon to port it across to your next provider.
