Jump’s technology proves big leap forward

But an SME in Leeds has come up with a way of beating the mobile black spots. 24 Seven, a telecoms network operator, has come up with a sim card called Jump.

It literally jumps from network to network based on the strongest signal, helping businesses that are reliant on data roaming for their everyday operations.

David Samuel, who set up the business in 2002, told The Yorkshire Post that they had already come up with the idea and were developing it when in the summer of 2014 Prime Minister David Cameron called for better coverage.

The firm says that people using a foreign sim card are likely to get a better signal than those with UK sim cards.

Mr Samuel said: “We came up with an idea some time ago. One thing that I used to ask people was what’s your biggest frustration with your mobile phone? Most people will say one of two things.

“It’s either mobile reception or battery life.”

He added: “We invested a lot of time, resource and money into setting up what is now Jump.”

The Prime Minister’s intervention led to fears of 24 Seven, which has 15 employees and a turnover of more than £5m, being gazumped.

“Of course the mobile networks might be forced to actually roll this out as standard,” he said.

But in the end the large mobile networks agreed to invest in the infrastructure as a compromise.

24 Seven targets its services at business-to-business.

Mr Samuel said: “We’ve had interest from all kinds of sectors. Taxi firms, NHS, vehicle recovery, utilities, there’s not just one specific industry.”

The firm said it hopes to build momentum behind Jump.