SMSPup has recently launched a new mobile service that they claim to be Australia’s first advertising subsidised mobile phone service.

SMSPup already has a 140,000 strong opt-in online database offering free web to mobile SMS to subscribers who agree to receive ads & online surveys in return.

The new mobile service called SMSPup Mobile offers subscribers $130 worth of call value a month for $10 if they agree to receive SMS & email based advertising offers. The service is provided by Comtel (who operate Reward Mobile in Australia) an MVNO on the Vodafone network.

Subscribers will receive up to 5 promotional messages a day to get the deal, or $29 if they don’t want the ads. See the SMSPup Mobile FAQ for more info. According to SMSPup Mobile the ads will reflect customers demographic and lifestyle preferences.

Included in the $130 is mobile, landline & international calls, sms, mms, voicemail, and mobile data at a rate of 2 cents ber kb. This is in line with Telstra & Vodafone’s rates for casual mobile internet use (so, if a subsriber was using predominantly data they would use up around $100 of their $130 to get 5MB of data). Given the SMSPup mobile target audience is unlikely to be heavy mobile browsers it’s probably a fair plan.

Another component of the service is a reward system whereby customers can earn points by interacting with or responding to the advertising messages. The reward points can then be redeemed for benefits including movie passes, travel discounts or used in auctions for devices such as handsets on the SMSPup site.

While its great to see this example of an ‘ads for mobile services” model in Australia, I think it would be better to see the plan being truly free to customers, with advertisers covering all of the costs.

Or what about focusing specifically on data browsing – I might agree to receive ads in return for completely no charge data browsing.

What do you think? Will the SMSPup model work? Has anyone signed up for it and checked out the ads you receive?

I am also interested to hear more about the value that Advertisers will receiving from targeting SMSPup Mobile subscribers. My own previous experience with SMSPup’s SMS database showed great CTRs (as recipients earned points for clicking), but ultimately poor conversions. I wonder how the reward scheme will operate under this new service and if it is likely to encourage similar behaviour?

Thanks to Andrew Grill for alerting me to the SMSPup Mobile launch last week. Check out his blog London Calling to see the SMSPup Mobile press release and further comments from Andrew, comparing the service to a similar offering from UK company Blyk.