As heartfelt as liking a post on Facebook post to show your support for a cause or charity is (sarcasm), don’t you think actually donating money would be a little more useful? Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales certainly thinks so, which is why he has released a new MVNO/social network known as The People’s Operator that takes a rather simple and unique approach to raising money for charities.
Nobody raves about their mobile carrier. Here in the United States, we merely tolerate the companies whose profit margins we help fatten every month in exchange for the luxury of staying constantly connected. And that’s the best case scenario. But what if we could actually feel good about paying our cell phone bills? Sounds crazy, I know. But Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales doesn’t think it’s so far-fetched. Today, U.S. mobile subscribers are getting one more option: The People’s Operator, a socially conscious mobile provider based in the U.K. is launching its service stateside with the help of Wales, who now also serves as co-chair of TPO’s board. The company donates 10% of its subscribers’ monthly bills to a cause of their choice, while itself forking over 25% of its profits to charity as well. “We like the idea of having a more emotive proposition,” says Wales of the company’s unusual business model. “Something that you feel is a meaningful thing that you’re doing. We’re replacing massive marketing spend with massive spend on causes. I think that feels good to people.”
