Mobile virtual network operator

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A mobile virtual network operator is a company that does not own a licensed frequency spectrum, but resells wireless services under their own brand name, using the network of another mobile phone operator. The first successful MVNO was Virgin Mobile, launched in the United Kingdom in 1999. Before this, Sense attempted to start an MVNO service in the Scandinavian countries, but failed. A similar strategy was pursued by MCI in the early 90s. [1]

An MVNO's roles and relationship to the mobile phone operator vary by market. In general an MVNO is an entity or company that works independently of the operator and can set its own pricing structures. Usually, it does not own any GSM, CDMA or other wireless infrastructure, such as Mobile Switching Center (MSC) or a radio access network. Some may own their own Home Location Register (HLR), which allows more flexibility since multiple host networks could be used, and the MVNO appears as a roaming partner.

Contents

[edit] MVNOs Classification and Marketing strategies

  • Discount MVNOs provide cut-price call rates to market segments. Discount MVNOs include Fresh Mobile, MobileWorld and Virgin Mobile. Their strategy is based on cheap prepaid or postpaid pricing plans with basic voice and SMS services.
  • Lifestyle MVNOs focus on specific niche market demographics MVNOs such as Helio, Boost Mobile and AMP'D Mobile in the US, and Hello_MTV and ID&T Mobile in Europe market entirely to young users.

There are three primary motivations for mobile operators to allow MVNOs on their networks. These are generally:

  • Segmentation-Driven Strategies – mobile operators often find it difficult to succeed in all customer segments. MVNOs are a way to implement a more specific marketing mix, whether alone or with partners and they can help attack specific, targeted segments.
  • Network Utilisation-Driven Strategies – Many mobile operators have capacity, product and segment needs – especially in new areas like 3G. An MVNO strategy can generate economies of scale for better network utilisation.
  • Product-Driven Strategies – MVNOs can help mobile operators target customers with specialised service requirements and get to customer niches that mobile operators cannot get to.

MVNO models mean lower operational costs for mobile operators (billing, sales, customer service, marketing), help fight churn, grow average revenue per user by providing new applications and tariff plans and also can help with difficult issues like how to deal with fixed-mobile convergence by allowing MVNOs to try out more experimental projects and applications. The opportunity for mobile operators to take advantage of MVNOs generally outweighs the competitive threat.

[edit] MVNOs in the World

There are currently approximately 200 planned or operational MVNOs world-wide. Countries like The Netherlands, Denmark, United Kingdom, Finland, Belgium, Australia and United States have the most MVNOs, whereas some countries are just beginning to launch active MVNO business models - like Spain, France, the Baltics and Austria. Where there are many MVNOs in a single country, it is difficult for new entrants as the overall marketplace is highly saturated.

UPDATE (13th Nov 2006): Blycroft Publishing announced that there are roughly 230 active MVNOs, as of June 2006. The MVNOs contained within their MVNO market study vary from consumer driven MVNOs to enterprise and data focused operations. It is a common misbelief that MVNOs only target the consumer markets. An example of a non-consumer MVNO being Wireless Maingate, an M2M data based MVNO. It is correct that the majority of MVNOs are consumer focused and most have a focus on price sensitivity as their unique selling point. It is now widely thought that the future development of MVNOs as an industry is within enterprise market developments and M2M markets.

[edit] MVNO, MVNE and Beyond

The industry is going through stages characterized by alphabet soup nomenclature, including MVNO and MVNE (so-called Mobile Virtual Network Enabler). Most industry observers believe that the market is evolving and that many MVNOs will become operators while others will fold or be bought.

[edit] Legislation

Presently, many companies and regulatory bodies are strongly in favour of MVNOs. For example, in 2003, the European Commission issued a recommendation to national telecom regulators (NRAs) to examine the competitiveness of the market for wholesale access and call origination on public mobile telephone networks. The study resulted in new legislation from NRAs in countries like Ireland and France that forces operators to open up their network to MVNOs.

[edit] List of MVNOs

See also Category:Mobile Virtual Network Operators.

See also Blycroft Publishing's MVNO Directory

also see: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=50840


Paolo, on that forum, said:

SYSTEMS USED: Rogers - GSM/TDMA/AMPS Fido - GSM Bell (and Aliant) - CDMA/amps Telus - CDMA/IDEN/AMPS MTS - CDMA/AMPS Sasktel - CDMA/AMPS

MVNOs: Virgin Mobile - Bell's Network in Ontario and Quebec Presidents Choice - Bell's Network I think, not too sure, dont really care. [confirmed, it is Bell] Fido - Rogers Network Sprint Canada - Rogers Network Primus - Rogers Network Sears Connect - Rogers Network 7-11 Speak Out - Rogers Network Videotron - Rogers Network Simpro (now amalgamated into Fido's billing system)- Rogers Network Cityfone - Rogers Network Solo mobile - Solo is just another name for Bell's Prepaid, so theyre actually still owned by Bell

[edit] References

  1. ^ How to be an MVNO telephonyonline.com

[edit] External links

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