Advertising-funded MVNO Blyk has hit its target of 100,000 UK subscribers six months ahead of schedule. The company initially expected to hit the milestone a year after its launch in September 2007. Founded by former Nokia president Pekka Ala-Pietilä and funded by Goldman Sachs, the venture is aimed exclusively at 16-24 year olds and could reach 250,000 users by Christmas at current growth rates and break the 1 million barrier within three years. In exchange for agreeing to receive up to six commercial messages a day from the likes of Xbox, Adidas and L’Oreal, users are given 43 minutes of talk time and 217 texts a month for free. Blyk claims its ad campaigns have generated industry leading average response rates of 29%.

A report in the Daily Telegraph notes that the venture is being watched closely by UK mobile network operators, some of whom have already experimented with advertising that has generated minimal revenue to date. Ben Wood at CCS Insight told the newspaper that although 100,000 users was “background noise” compared to the country’s 50 million total subscriber base, he believes that advertising is the “business model” of the 21st century. “Blyk are the pioneers in the mobile space. They could be acquired by one of the big internet brands as a foot in the door to the mobile phone market,” Wood said. Meanwhile Blyk plans to launch in Holland in the second half of this year, followed by other European markets.