MVNO

The Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) model was developed in Western Europe. Virgin Mobile is considered to be the first real commercial and successful MVNO. MVNOs tend to appear in mature markets where certain segments cannot be reached by standard MNO (Mobile Network Operator) offerings. Hence the development of MVNOs has started later in USA than in Western Europe (due to USA market being less saturated than Western European is). However, the growth of MVNO market in USA is expected to further continue, as well as in Europe. In the USA MVNOs are likely to have revenue of $10-12bn by 2008.

MVNO model works in the following way: MVNOs purchase wholesale airtime on an existing wireless network and provide their own branded wireless communication services to the end-users. Usually, MVNOs focus on targeted niche markets, defined by demographics such as age, lifestyle, geography, ethnicity, community or interest group.

MVNOs manage their operations through a dedicated third-party platform capable of handling CRM, billing, service creation, and network inter-working. MVNOs build their own brand identity through innovation using new data and content-based services and through dedicated understanding of market and support offered to end-customer. MVNOs are particularly interested in the increasing role that mobile content and applications play in targeting these niche markets.