We knew the smartphone responsible for Fairphone, now here is the first ethical mobile plan that could accompany it. Bouygues Telecom is launching Source, an original offer whose particularity is to convert, if you wish, the mobile Internet that you have not used into donations to associations.
“It’s an innovation that should allow our subscribers to consume differently”underlined the Managing Director of Bouygues Telecom Benoît Torloting during a press conference. “It’s the mobile that does good”, enthused the director of innovation of the operator Stéphane Allaire.
You can temporarily deactivate the offer
Source’s price is 10 euros per month for 10 GB of data, all without commitment. This is not a subsidized smartphone offer and includes unlimited calls and texts. It is open to new and old subscribers.
Bouygues Telecom also wanted to meet several commercial aspirations of its customers. Source does not block mobile Internet, the quantity of which can be increased on a case-by-case basis for one euro per GB. And it is also possible to temporarily deactivate its line. Rather welcome. The subscription process is fully digitized and simplified within an application. 100 drops are offered when ordering the SIM card.
How do donations work?
One GB is equivalent to 100 drops of water. At the end of the month, you transmit as many GB as you want within the mobile Internet envelope you have left. You then have the embarrassment of the choice to distribute them thanks to a catalog of more than 1000 projects with social or environmental vocation. You can thus contribute to maintaining biodiversity (Sea Shepherd France), supporting local and autonomous production models (the Amap movement), supporting sick people (Les Petits Princes), protecting mistreated animals (SPA).
To develop this offer, the operator relies on the solidarity search engine Lilo – which runs with Microsoft’s Bing – and whose economic model is based on advertising. It allows its users to translate their requests into donations to associations in the form of drops. Their value varies according to the total amount of accumulated income, knowing that half is systematically donated to associations.
“We have collected four million euros since 2015 and we now represent between 20 and 30% of the budget of certain associations”said Sophie Bodin, the president of Lilo.
Also see video:
Bouygues Telecom funds Source drops
The company is turning with Bouygues Telecom to a totally different approach since in the end, it is the operator who will put his hand in his pocket to finance the drops.
“Our customers consume an average of 15 GB of data per month. We estimate that they use between half and 70% of their mobile Internet envelope”, specified Benoît Torloting.
If all subscribers start donating their GB, it could hurt Bouygues Telecom’s wallet. But the operator is well aware that its offer is aimed at a particular segment of the population.
Despite everything, the operator no longer offers a 10 GB offer, except for blocked packages intended for teenagers. You have to choose between 5 GB and 100 GB. Source could therefore also appeal to customers looking for a reasonable data bucket for an affordable price, beyond the ethical dimension of the approach.