society incorporated under the Industrial & Provident Societies Acts. 2010: acquired the telecoms business of Saga Group, including approximately 8,000 residential customers. 2012: concluded a brand licensing agreement with Co-operative Brands Limited to use The Co-operative brand with three specific sub brands, The Co-operative Phone & Broadband, The Co-operative Business Telecoms, and The Co-operative Mobile. 2013: Partners with the UK charity Community Network to take over its teleconferencing platform, allowing the charity to focus on serving its clients. 2014: invests £500,000 in public transport social enterprise HCT Group. 2014: became the UK's sole stockist of Fairphone 1 ethical smartphones. 2014: acquired the broadband business of Namesco. 2014: launched a Pay As You Go (PAYG) SIM card in conjunction with The Co-operative Group, to complement the existing postpaid mobile service. Available in approximately 3,800 branches of The Co-operative Food. 2015: partners with Fairphone to release their second generation modular smartphone, Fairphone 2, in the UK. 2017: brings service sub brands in line with the name of the organisation since 1999, The Phone Co-op, in place of the names adopted using The Co-operative brand in 2012. The new brand identity incorporates the Global Cooperative Marque promoted by the International Co-operative Alliance. 2017: Founder Vivian Woodell steps down to head the new Phone Co-op Foundation for Co-operative Innovation 2018: Membership votes to transfer engagements to Midcounties Co-operative Society 2021: Following a reduction in users of their PAYG service, the company announced that they would be closing their Pay as You Go service. See also British co-operative movement Utility co-operative Fairphone References External links Consumers' co-operatives of the United Kingdom Telecommunications companies of the United Kingdom Internet service providers of the United Kingdom 1998 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1998 Social enterprises