{"id":36559,"date":"2023-12-12T00:01:37","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T00:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=36559"},"modified":"2023-12-11T11:30:17","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T11:30:17","slug":"vodafone-uk-donates-2-million-free-mobile-data-sims-to-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/12\/vodafone-uk-donates-2-million-free-mobile-data-sims-to-public.html","title":{"rendered":"Vodafone UK Donates 2 Million Free Mobile Data SIMs to Public"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mobile operator Vodafone<\/a> has announced that they’ve made big progress toward their goal of helping 4 million UK people and businesses, usually reflecting those who are \u201cexperiencing digital exclusion<\/em>\u201c, cross the digital divide by 2025. As a result, they’ve so far donated connectivity to 2 million people, usually via free mobile data (broadband) and calling SIMs.<\/p>\n

The programme predominantly provides people with a free SIM with 20GB (GigaBytes) of data (mobile broadband) a month, for 6 months \u2013 plus unlimited calls and texts \u2013 through a network of charity partners. The figure of 2 million (up from 500k in July 2022) was reached through Vodafone<\/a>\u2019s partnerships with related charities, such as The Trussell Trust, Barnardo\u2019s and the Good Things Foundation, as well as the number of other charities.<\/p>\n

People can support the campaign this Christmas by playing Elf & Seek<\/strong> \u2013 an augmented reality game which gives you the chance to gift one of 50,000 SIM cards to those in need, donated by Vodafone through its everyone.connected<\/strong><\/a> programme on their behalf. Other prizes up for grabs include an all-inclusive family winter sun holiday to Tenerife, weekends away, Nintendo Switch consoles, Lavazza Coffee machines and more.<\/p>\n

Nicki Lyons, Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer at Vodafone UK, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAt Vodafone, we’re committed to closing the digital divide all year round, and at Christmas we know that being connected to loved ones is more important than ever. We are proud to have now helped two million people and businesses cross the digital divide, with a commitment to double that figure by the end of 2025.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We should point out that “helping<\/em>” is not the same as “solving<\/em>“, particularly since the free period only lasts for 6 months, but that’s still very impressive, and we can’t expect a commercial mobile operator to give away totally free services with no end date. The operator has also released some data on regional popularity.<\/p>\n

The locations in the UK where Vodafone received the highest number of requests for SIM cards in 2023 are:<\/p>\n