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Smarty is one of the UK’s cheapest mobile networks, which might seem odd given that it’s owned by Three, and is usually substantially cheaper than Three itself.
So why is Smarty so cheap (and so much cheaper than Three)? Well, there are a few reasons, and we’ve detailed them below.
1. It’s a marketing strategy
As one of the big networks, there will always be the assumption that Three is quite expensive. And while it actually often undercuts the other major players (namely EE, Vodafone, and O2), that assumption is largely true.
So people looking for a cheap plan may be turned off from Three, either based on that assumption, or on the fact that it often actually is quite expensive.
With Smarty then, Three has a way to appeal to those people. Three could just lower its own prices of course, but then it would be eating into its own profits, since plenty of people are happy to pay for Three. Having a separate brand name under Smarty also helps this network avoid assumptions that the price will be high.
2. Smarty doesn't run it's own network
Ok, so Three wants to appeal to more people by providing a cheaper option, but this isn’t just a reskinned version of Three – Smarty has specifically been set up in a way that costs Three less money to run.
For one thing, it can make full use of Three’s network infrastructure, so it doesn’t have to develop its own, and unlike most other MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) like Giffgaff and Tesco Mobile, it also doesn't have to pay to leverage a big network’s infrastructure, since Three is its parent company.
Smarty also has far fewer employees than Three itself. According to Frog.co – which worked with Three to create Smarty – the latter has just 20 employees, while Three itself has 4,800 according to Wikipedia.
3. Smarty’s customer service is all online
With only 20 employees, Smarty obviously doesn’t have the people power to operate stores or call centres, so all of its customer service is online.
It’s therefore paying far fewer people than a lot of networks, and also doesn’t need to pay rent on retail stores.
The inability to talk to someone face to face or over the phone may put some potential customers off, but you can still get support from real people via web chat, between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week. On top of that, Smarty’s website also has an extensive number of articles to help solve many issues, and there’s a community page, where users can ask questions and help each other.
4. Smarty keeps plans simple
Whereas Three and a number of other networks offer a wide range of plans, with Smarty all you can get is a 30-day SIM Only or Data Only plan. You can pick from a selection of different allowances, but that’s about the only choice you need to make.
Similarly, Smarty doesn’t offer much in the way of extras. You can roam and tether, but there’s no access to anything like the Three+ rewards app and none of the entertainment subscriptions you can get with networks like EE and Vodafone.
By keeping things simple in terms of both the plan selection and the extras on offer, Smarty is likely also keeping its own costs low.
That doesn’t mean Smarty is an inferior network though – with the might of Three behind it, this is a very capable 5G network, it just puts low prices ahead of unnecessary extras.
