A new venture spearheaded by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales wants you to use your cellphone bill for social good.
Wales announced the launch of The People's Operator (TPO) in the U.S. on Tuesday, a new mobile carrier that automatically donates 10% of your bill to a charity or cause of your choice. Based on the same model in the UK, TPO is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) powered by Sprint's existing infrastructure and network, and will also give 25% of its annual profits to charity.
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But this doesn't mean TPO is charging customers 10% more to make up for philanthropic gains; in fact, TPO is priced similarly to competitors. The first prepaid tier — the "Goodness-to-Go Low" text and talk plan — offers 250 minutes and 250 texts for only $9. The most expensive prepaid plan — "Goodness-To-Go Bananas" — offers unlimited talk, unlimited text and 11GB of data for $89.
Monthly plans start at $32 per month for "Unlimited Goodness 32" — unlimited talk, text and 2 GB of data. The highest monthly plan is the "Unlimited Goodness 86" — unlimited talk, text and 13 GB of data for $86.
So, how can TPO afford to donate so much to charity and still keep pricing reasonable?
"We don't do any of the kinds of heavy advertising that all the other cellphone providers do," Wales told Mashable. "Instead of sticking with your current provider, which will spend more than 10% of your money on more TV commercials, you can switch to us. We'll spend it on something you care about, and all we ask in return is to recruit other people ... to raise money for whatever you love."
That's why Wales and TPO have also launched a new, ad-free social network and online community: TPO.com, now in beta.
It's an open platform through which people can raise money for any cause, and encourage others to do the same. You don't have to be a TPO customer to join, but you have the option to encourage others to switch their mobile providers.
IMAGE: TPO
Wales describes the social network as "a completely open, general-interest social network," on which people can share photos, talk to friends and perform all of the typical social media actions, while sharing the space with a donation platform. Nonprofits can set up dedicated pages on TPO.com to raise money for their causes.
TPO is partnering with a wide range of well-known organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund, Action Against Hunger, Save the Children and WaterAid, but Wales said it's important to note that TPO.com can be used to raise money for any cause.
"My favorite example is my niece, who is in a high school marching band. She's really excited about getting all of her friends on the platform, because every year they're raising money do their annual trip to Washington, D.C., to play in a parade," Wales said, explaining that she can use the social network as a fundraising tool.
In contrast to other giving platforms, such as Crowdrise, Network for Good, Razoo and evenIndiegogo, TPO.com doesn't charge the charities using its service.
"A lot of the donation platforms out there charge commission, sometimes as high as 8%. We don't really want to do that as a business model. For us, it's about engaging with potential customers of the phone service. A lot of the causes are pretty intrigued by that," Wales said.
IMAGE: TPO
Still, there's the challenge of getting people to go to the trouble of switching providers, and also refocusing their attention toward yet another social network.
But Mark Epstein, CEO of TPO, feels the competitive business model, built-in charitable aspects and open social platform offer plenty of appeal.
"We've also invested a lot in customer service," Epstein told Mashable. "So, we're going to provide a great product, great price, great customer service. And we're aligning that with the reach the social network will give us, with all the causes that are switching their donation platforms to TPO. We think we're in a really good position..."
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