She succeeds long-standing CEO Ash Schofield who joined giff gaff in 2013 from Tesco Mobile.  He has been CEO since 2018.

Dohaney has had senior leadership roles at News Corp and Dow Jones before she was appointed chief executive of mechandise agency Orb Group in March 2024 where she ran a modernisation programme.

Virgin Media O2 chief executive Lutz Schüler said: “Kate is a proven leader with a wealth of experience, and I look forward to welcoming her as CEO of giffgaff. She joins at a truly exciting time for the company following its recent expansion into the broadband market and I am confident she will lead the organisation with the heart and tenacity the brand was built on.”

Dohaney said: “giffgaff is known for doing things differently and I’m excited to get started, driving the next chapter of growth for the business.”

The appointment comes as giffgaff pushes deeper into broadband, recently launching full-fibre connectivity in regions including North West England, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands, the North East, Scotland, South West England, Wales and the West Midlands. The business also plans to leverage Virgin Media O2’s fibre infrastructure to build a nationwide fixed offering.

Launched in 2009, giffgaff built its brand around low-cost, SIM-only mobile plans and a community-driven service model.

The trial offers 12 months of broadband at just £10 per month, with fibre speeds of 500Mbps. Participants will also receive a £100 reward in exchange for feedback.

The new service will later be supported by Virgin Media O2’s wholesale broadband infrastructure. giffgaff becomes the first brand to use Virgin Media O2’s new wholesale broadband platform, and the second wholesale customer of nexfibre, a challenger to BT in the UK’s fixed connectivity market. Nexfibre is a joint venture between InfraVia Capital Partners, Liberty Global and Telefónica and is financed with £4.5 billion of equity and debt investment.

In keeping with its member-first ethos, giffgaff is calling on its community to help co-create the broadband experience. Giffgaff was founded in 2009 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Telefónica UK (O2) offering flexible, contract-free SIM-only plans with a strong emphasis on customer input. The name “giffgaff” is a Scots phrase meaning “mutual giving,”

Ash Schofield, CEO of giffgaff, commented:
“Broadband is a natural evolution for us as a connectivity brand. We’re committed to bringing together the best tech, with the experience of our customers — to build better broadband.”

The move is set to strengthen the national reach of the Virgin Media O2 and nexfibre full fibre network,

Ernest Doku, broadband expert at Uswitch.com, commented: “giffgaff’s entry into the broadband market could be exciting news for consumers looking for an alternative to the bigger players. While giffgaff’s full fibre broadband is only being offered on a trial basis at the moment, working directly with consumers to test its new service as ‘co-creators’ is a good way of showing its commitment to ‘building a better broadband’ The real test will be what kind of pricing will giffgaff be offering to consumers as this product becomes more widely available.

Giffgaff has added extra data to six of its existing SIM only goodybags at no extra cost, and has introduced five new goodybags.

All goodybags include unlimited calls and texts, with prices fixed for all of 2023.

Golden goodybags recur every 30 days, but a standard goodybag needs to be activated each month. Both goodybags are flexible and allow members to change depending on data needs. 

The new tariffs from giffgaff are said to provide better value than social tariffs offered by other mobile networks.

Changes to standard goodybags

• The £8 goodybag will increase from 3GB to 4GB of data. 
• The £10 goodybag will increase from 12GB to 15GB of data. 
• The £12 goodybag will increase from 20GB to 25GB of data. 
• The £15 goodybag will increase from 25GB to 30GB of data. 
• Giffgaff will launch the £35 goodybag which will offer 150GB.

Changes to golden goodybags

• Giffgaff will launch a £6 golden goodybag offering 2GB of data.
• Giffgaff will launch an £8 golden goodybag offering 5GB of data.
• The £10 golden goodybag will increase from 15GB to 20GB of data. 
• Giffgaff will launch a £12 golden goodybag offering 26GB of data.
• The £15 golden goodybag will increase from 30GB to 35GB of data.
• Giffgaff will launch a £25 golden goodybag offering 100GB of data

Ash Schofield, CEO of giffgaff, said: “At giffgaff, we’re committed to making sure mobile bills are one less thing that people have to worry about at the moment. Our latest updates to our goodybags, plus the fact that we’ve fixed our UK prices for 2023, provides the certainty and value people are looking for right now as we head into the new year.”

UK consumers could save an average of £204 by opting for a refurbished phone, reveals research by giffgaff.

The data also shows that if every adult in the country due to buy a new phone this year chose a refurbished one instead, users could save £4.5 billion.

Of those surveyed, 66 per cent reported phone costs as a concern and 33 per cent said price rises were causing them stress.

Meanwhile, 45 per cent of respondents said they were more likely to use refurbished tech than they were a few years ago, with 35 per cent having purchased one in the past few years.

However, there are still misconceptions about refurbished devices, with 55 per cent perceiving refurbished phones as older models and 37 per cent thinking they have poor battery life and no warranty.

“At a time when people are feeling the rising cost of living, refurbished devices can be a great option,” said giffgaff CEO Ash Schofield.

“Our research shows that whilst a number of people see refurb tech as a viable option, quite a few are missing out on the savings because of outdated misconceptions.

“We want to bust these myths about battery life, outdated models and lower quality devices, and help the nation manage their finances to get more of what they want and need.”

Research from giffgaff reveals old and recyclable phones left in drawers across UK households could be worth up to £3.4 billion.

Owners of these abandoned phones could get over £100 for each phone they recycle which can also help reduce the UK’s e-waste.

Of those surveyed, 67pc haven’t used their old handset in the past year and 19pc have only used their old device once.

Over 13 million people in the UK hoard mobiles for more than 12 months, but the price they would have got for an unused handset could have halved in that time due to the value declining.

Giffgaff’s urgent call to the nation aims to help people trade-in, recycle or gift their old handsets, and it has already seen double digit year-on-year growth in refurbished phone sales.

Giffgaff CEO Ash Schofield said: “Our latest research highlights that there’s a significant opportunity for people with an old mobile phone to make a tangible, sustainable impact, and gain some extra cash. 

“And with the cost of living rising across the board, now is a great time to get something back by trading in your old phone.”

Doro and giffgaff have partnered to donate 500 Doro 5516 feature phones to isolated elderly people across the UK, as part of a push to counter the effects of loneliness during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The manufacturer and MVNO, in conjunction with business donation platform Neighbourly, are delivering the phones as part of a wider initiative to provide 2,000 phones to isolated older people across Germany, France and the Nordics.

All phones will be delivered with a pre-installed giffgaff SIM with unlimited texts and calls and 2GB of monthly data. The 5516 comes with 3G connectivity and the Doro Assistance button on the back of the phone.

In the event of an emergency, the Assistance button activates a call to Doro’s trained advisors, who can advise the caller appropriately, or pass the call on to emergency services. The service, normally charged, will be free to the users for three months from distribution.

The news follows giffgaff’s goodybank initiative, in which it matches giffgaff members’ credit top-ups with donations to charities.

“Living in isolation is tough for everyone, but the elderly may find themselves in a greater state of stress and suffering from loneliness,” said giffgaff CEO Ashley Schofield. “We hope that providing these phones will help them stay connected with loved ones and brng some much needed respite in these trying times.”