Alex Kinch

UPDATE: Please read this later entry regarding Blyk

Ad-supported mobile network Blyk – launched in 2007 and aimed at the ‘youth’ market – is to axe its consumer offering, according to reports.

The Orange-partnered MVNO, which gave subscribers free text messages and voice minutes in return for receiving promotions and advertising from marketing partners, is planning to focus on operator partnerships, according to New Media Age.

Only a few weeks ago Blyk had announced they’d reached 200,000 customers in just under a year – double their original target – and served over 1,000 ads from more than 100 advertisers. At the time CEO and co-founder Pekka Ala-Pietilä said to analysts at a round table event in London ‘We have proven that it works’. And yesterday Blyk’s mobile advertising partner Velti announced the acquisition of rival Ad Infuse.

Rumours are now circulating that operators including O2, Vodafone and Orange are in talks to acquire the ad technology – and possibly the customers too, although it’s more likely that Orange, being Blyk’s MNO partner, would be in the strongest position to take over the subscriber base.

An email to Blyk’s press team asking for comment bounced with a ’security policy’ error – but New Media Age have a quoted UK CEO Antti Öhrling as saying “There won’t be an MVNO when we launch the partnership model. The whole model of engaging is appealing to other operators.”