Lycamobile

Lycamobile

Industry	Telecommunication
Founded	September 2006
Headquarters	Austria Australia Belgium Denmark France Germany Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom United States
Key people	Subaskaran Allirajah, Chairman Premananthan Sivasamy, Deputy Chairman
Products	Mobile telecommunications services
Revenue	US$ 3 billion (2014)
Website	http://lycamobile.com

Lycamobile is a mobile phone virtual network that operates in Australia, Austria,^[1] Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom, where it is based. The Lycamobile brand is distinct from the Lycatel brand and operates with different national corporate entities. Although there are some countries of overlap, Lycamobile and Lycatel do not necessarily operate in parallel. The bulk of Lycamobile revenue is generated from Lycamobile's SIM products for consumers.

Lycamobile sells international pay-as-you-go SIM cards to consumers wanting to make international telephone calls. An MVNO leases radio frequency from mobile phone network operators and it forms partnerships with the operators in each country it serves. Lycamobile has also developed distinct business structures such as MVNA arrangements in different countries. Lycamobile states that its focus remains quality and affordable international calling for its customers. It has often adopted an aggressive pricing strategy on entry to new markets in order to acquire early market share. In some instances, MNO partners of Lycamobile have been surprised by the actual growth rather than their own projected estimated growth of Lycamobile's products.

The Lycamobile brand concept was launched in 2005 with the first trading using the brand taking place in 2006. Its business structure is arranged to have local national private companies branded under licence as "Lycamobile" and operating exclusively in the particular country as either a MVNO provider or as the principal wholesaler of Lycamobile-branded products. The Lycamobile brand is owned by Pettigo Comércio Internacional, Limitada, a Portuguese holding company located in Madeira, Portugal.

Lycamobile currently operates in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Since its launch in Netherlands in 2006, Lycamobile now has more than 12 million pay-as-you-go customers throughout all the countries it serves.^[1]

Other products / brands

Lycamobile, in addition to its core business selling SIM cards, has launched a number of related brands:-

Lycaworld

Lycaworld is a service where a single connection fee allows for calls of up to 30 minutes.^[2]

Lycatel products

Lycatel is a distinct operation from Lycamobile and is focused on the sale of calling cards to wholesalers to then sell on to the public. Lycatel offers online sales of calling cards and direct customer sales through the Lycateleshop. The Lycatel brand is not itself used as a calling card brand name, but acts as a parent brand name used on various branded calling cards. The most popular brands of Lycatel calling cards include Africa Tel, Cobra, Eurocity, One+One, Spicy Tel, Supertel, Unitel, Viper and World Call. Each calling card brand features different calling rates to different destinations with some being more suited to single use (known in the calling card industry as 'throw-away cards'). Others are more suited to occasional use but will feature a higher standard rate for each call placed. Whilst there is a fair level of confusion between pricing, Lycatel's underlying charges are significantly less than connecting international calls in a conventional sense.

The Lycatel (or as previously used "Lyca Tel") brand has been in existence since 2001 although its early ownership and operational structure were significantly distinct in the early 2000s from the present day. The present-day Lycatel brand owners and licensees form a larger organisation although the operational focus of Lycatel remains the sale of a variety of differently branded calling cards to wholesalers. Wholesalers in turn sell onto retailers who then sell primarily to expatriate customers who want to make low-cost international calls.

Lycatel primarily operates via its own national reselling companies or through its service providers in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, India (an outsourcing operation), Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Lycatel currently holds a wider country-by-country spread than the Lycamobile operations, although Lycamobile has begun operations in countries that Lycatel does not currently have a presence such as Poland. Although the calling card market is generally considered to be in decline with the arrival of mobile telephony, Lycatel as a whole remains a dominant and significant competitor in the calling card market in Europe.

Lycatalk

The Lycatalk brand is also part of the Lycatel family of brands and operates in the same jurisdictions as the calling card brands with the exception of Portugal. Lycatalk has less prominence than the Lycatel and Lycamobile brands but has a simply structured product with no set up fees or other maintenance charges. Lycatalk tariff rates are more settled and rarely vary wildly, unlike more aggressively price structured products such as calling cards.

GT Mobile

GT Mobile (also known as "Gnanam Telecom") was a MNVO sub-brand of Lycamobile that operates in Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.^[3] The brand, like its parent, is aimed at those who wish to make national and international phone calls on a pay-as-you-go basis. The GT Mobile brand offers alternative pricing structures and packages from the Lycamobile brand.

LycaFly

LycaFly is the travel arm of the Lyca business, & specialises in offering cheap flights and holidays to predominantly Asian destinations such as India and Sri Lanka. LycaFly was launched in 2007 as part of an acquisition of an existing travel agency business. In 2014, LycaFly launched a sub-brand of LycaHolidays, with the intention of offering package holidays to persons living in the UK. The UK LycaFly business, U Can Fly Limited, is owned by Pettigo Comércio Internacional, Limitada, a Portuguese holding company located in Madeira, Portugal. Pettigo Comércio Internacional, Limitada also owns the LycaFly and LycaHoliday brand names. At present LycaFly operates only in the UK although it is likely to expand to the same countries as Lycamobile and Lycatel respectively.

Coverage

Country	Partner network	Note
Austria	A1	[4]
Australia	Telstra	[5]
Belgium	Mobistar	[6]
Denmark	TDC	[7]
France	Bouygues	[8]
Germany	Vodafone	[9]
Ireland	O2
Italy	Vodafone	[10]
Netherlands	KPN	[11]
Norway	Telia	[12]
Poland	Polkomtel	[13]
Portugal	Vodafone	[14]
Romania	Telekom Romania	[15]
Spain	Movistar	[16]
Sweden	Telenor
Switzerland	Swisscom	[17]
United Kingdom	O2
United States	T-Mobile	[18]

Other

Lycamobile's primary competitors are Lebara, Now Mobile, Vectone, and other nation-based ethnic MVNO providers. Lycamobile and Lycatel collectively employ around 4,500 employees globally—a huge expansion from its initial team, which in 2001 had fewer than 10 employees.

T-Mobile billing

T-Mobile in the United Kingdom charges its customers exclusive of their minutes allowance for calls to United Kingdom Lycamobile/GT Mobile numbers, despite Lycamobile UK being headquartered in London, and using United Kingdom "07"-prefixed numbers issued by Ofcom, in the UK. By contrast, Lycamobile UK does not treat calls to UK T-Mobile customers any differently and calls are charged just as any "07" UK mobile telephone numbers.^[19]

Politics

Lycamobile is a significant donor to the UK Conservative Party. They also donated use of a call centre to Boris Johnson during his campaign to win the 2012 London mayoral election.^[20]

References

External links

• Official website
• GT Mobile UK
• GT Mobile Australia
• Lycatalk UK

Australian mobile network operators Optus Mobile Telstra Mobile Vodafone Australian mobile virtual network operators Crazy John's LycaMobile/GT Mobile Lebara Savvytel TPG Tru Virgin Mobile