New mobile phone package includes free music streaming

By James Cridland for media.info
Posted 4 August 2015, 12.46pm edt

ROK Mobile is launching what it calls the first ever phone and music streaming package in the UK.

ROK Mobile is a SIM-only service and will offer UK consumers music streaming, unlimited phone calls, unlimited texts and 4GB of data each month. A unique functionality of the offering is ROK Mobile’s music streaming service, which allows users to choose from a catalogue of over 20 million songs. ROK’s music service, along with unlimited calls, texts and 4GB of data will be available to users for a total monthly cost of £24.99.

The service comes with a 4G-enabled SIM, and works on the Three network. Users need to bring their own phone to the service.

The music service is being powered by 7digital, a leading global digital music and radio platform. As with ROK Mobile in the US, 7digital’s secure infrastructure will handle all music file management, streaming to end users and rights-holder reporting.

A directly-comparable Three SIM-only plan offering unlimited calls, texts and 4GB of data monthly costs £24.00 a month, when paid on a recurring basis. This essentially means that unlimited music streaming through ROK costs 99p a month: significantly cheaper than through Spotify, Apple Music or Google Play Music All Access. However, ROK is not zero-rating its music service when used on its mobile network.

In a press release, James Kendrick, Director at ROK Mobile said: “We are very excited to be able to bring the first ever phone and music streaming package to the UK. ROK Mobile gives consumers all the benefits of a long term phone contract without all of the long term ties. The music service has a catalogue of over 20 million tracks that features the world’s best music from major and independent labels. ROK Mobile delivers the best possible mobile and music experience“.

Simon Cole, CEO of 7digital comments: “We are delighted to be involved in the UK launch of ROK Mobile as we have worked with ROK in the US for a number of years and believe their service offers a great music experience for mobile users”.

ROK was launched in the US last year. It uses three networks in the US, believed to be Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. A similar plan in the US costs $50 a month. No subscriber numbers are available, though ROK has missed its original target of a million subscribers in the first year.

(A previous version of this article incorrectly compared ROK with Vodafone Red, which doesn't offer Spotify access on a 30-day SIM-only deal; and didn't quite work out the difference between £24.99 and £24 correctly.)