Posts Tagged MVNO
Blyk denies reports it plans to discontinue retail services (UK)
British ad-funded mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Blyk has refuted claims that it is planning to discontinue its commercial retail services, Mobile Marketing Magazine reports. Blyk was responding to reports by another UK-based media outlet that said the operator was preparing the closure of its direct-to-consumer business in order to focus on operator partnerships. It is understood, however, that rather than exiting the consumer space, the MVNO plans to add a partnership model. A Blyk spokesperson, Ann Sarimo, was quoted as saying: ‘We are not closing shop. We are actively expanding, and we are in negotiations with partners right now. Our members are our core asset. Our total proposition is partly based on the advertising side of things, but it’s also about the whole user experience and audience management. We are not just a technology solution, we are a total mobile marketing solution, based in part on the advertising and messaging component, but it’s very much about a total experience and an audience of happy, engaged users.’
While Blyk originally offered 16-24 year olds 217 free texts and 43 minutes of free talk time each month in return for accepting targeted advertising on their phone each day, the company did change its model in January 2009. It now offers its customers GBP15 (USD22.8) free credit per month which can be used for either text messaging or voice calls.
Add comment May 14, 2009
MVNOs to enter Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s assistant minister for communication, Zeljko Knezevic, has announced that mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) will ‘soon’ be allowed to enter the country’s telecoms market, according to local news source Nezavisne Novine. A new telecoms policy (‘2008–2012’), which comes into force today, stipulates that the regulator must define licence conditions for MVNOs by the end of 2010.
Add comment February 10, 2009
New Blyk offering includes web
Ad-funded youth MVNO Blyk has announced it will change its ‘free’ allowance from February 16.
Blyk members, who must be aged from 16 to 24 when they join, previously received 217 minutes and 43 texts free in exchange for receiving advertising messages from brands based on their profile interests.
From February 16, members will now receive a £15 monthly allowance, which will include MMS, data, calls and texts. The respective costs are 20p per MMs, £1 per megabyte of data, 15p per minute to call and 10p to text.
Blyk UK chief executive Antti Ohrling (pictured) said the move towards a more flexible offering had been one of the biggest requests from its members.
He said: “We have seen about a 30 per cent jump in requests to join Blyk since we announced this change.”
Add comment January 30, 2009
Elephant Talk signs MVNO contract with Youpinie
Elephant Talk Communications, Inc, an international telecom and multimedia content distributor, announced that it has signed a Heads of Agreement contract with YOUPINIE BV, who will become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the Netherlands. As an MVNO, YOUPINIE expects to launch its product in spring 2009.
YOUPINIE will become an interactive MVNO, involving its members in surveys and other forms of feedback solutions. YOUPINIE expands online reach with the ability to communicate with its members directly through a mobile channel. YOUPINIE will process and collect information on its members in an open manner with their permission and will use the data gathered to provide its clients with relevant marketing feedback.
In addition to the services YOUPINIE delivers to its clients, selected news media sources (print, radio, television and Web) and government organizations, will be able to use YOUPINIE reports for their own purposes. YOUPINIE members will receive a share of the revenues of the company as compensation for use of their information.
Martin Zuurbier, CTO of Elephant Talk stated: “We are very pleased that YOUPINIE selected our state-of-the-art MVNE Platform to achieve their marketing and communication goals. We believe that Elephant Talk is the best platform available to combine communications technology with the required marketing information analysis engine. Our inventory capabilities will give YOUPINIE the direct throughput required to act as an interactive panel with the ability to communicate anytime, anywhere with its members.”
Hans van Linschoten, CEO of YOUPINIE, replied: “Our partnership with Elephant Talk will give us the ability to expand our activities and develop a strong position in the markets where we operate. We are looking forward to launching a full range of innovative services for our clients and prospective clients utilizing the vast possibilities of a mobile network.”
Add comment January 30, 2009
Israeli regulator announces draft MVNO legislation
Israel’s Ministry of Communications (MoC) has announced that it will allow the entrance of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to the country’s wireless sector. The MoC said that after considerations of reports it had requested from international analysts it believes that the introduction of MVNOs will increase competition in the market. It has revealed that several operators have already expressed an interest in the service model; earlier this month Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) wireless trunking operator MIRS Communications announced it would consider MVNO options rather than a full network launch. The MoC has reportedly prepared a draft of the new regulations, including the main conditions and requirements for MVNO applicants. It has invited comments from industry players and other relevant parties; no date has been announced for the framework’s implementation. Commenting on the proposals Ariel Attias, the minister of communications, said, ‘The entry of additional operators to the mobile sector will change the game and will alter the balance that has prevailed among the companies in the recent years; any step taken to increase the competition in this sector, ultimately assists in reducing prices for the consumer, mainly in the private sector.’
Add comment January 29, 2009
Boost Mobile to boot out CDMA
Sprint Nextel subsidiary Boost Mobile has confirmed it is working to transfer all of its subscribers to iDEN over time. At present Boost will still support CDMA products but will no longer promote them. In an aggressive move earlier this month the MVNO, running on Sprint’s smaller Nextel network, launched a USD50 per month unlimited mobile package.
Add comment January 29, 2009
Israel to allow MVNOs on market
The Israeli government has announced that it will permit the launch of MVNOs on the local market. The ministry of communications said that several companies have already expressed their interest for various new business models, including full MVNO. The government expects that the entry of more mobile operators to the market, along with the already existing number postability, will boost competition and encourage operators to come up with more attractive offers for customers. The ministry has prepared a draft ‘Licence for the provision of mobile telephony services involving the use of a mobile telephony network of another company’, and has laid down the main conditions and requirements of applying for an MVNO licence. There are currently three main mobile network operators in Israel: Orange, Pelephone and Cellcom.
Add comment January 29, 2009
Nokia launches ‘premium’ mobile service (Japan)
Nokia of Finland has launched a ‘premium’ mobile service in Japan using its high-end Vertu handset brand as a platform and piggybacking on NTT DoCoMo’s network to provide MVNO services to customers. The world’s biggest handset maker says the new service will be run by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as a managed service, allowing the MVNO to introduce value added services (VAS) without the need to invest in its own software, equipment, human resources and skills.
In November 2008 Nokia announced it was withdrawing from the Japanese mobile handset market, blaming the decision on its inability to make inroads in a country that heavily favours locally-developed technologies. However, the vendor said at the time it would continue to market its high-end, niche mobile phone Vertu. The announcement came just days after CommsUpdate reported that Nokia had revealed plans to enter the mobile market in Japan this year through an MVNO partnership with DoCoMo.
Add comment January 27, 2009
MVNO collective Libre Choix warns government to choose wisely on fourth 3G licence (France)
The French MVNO collective Libre Choix, which brings together a number of companies including Poweo, Altergaz, ipnotica Telecom, Gaz de Paris, Adrexo and Tele2 Mobile, has suggested the government should consult with MVNOs before it considers awarding the country’s fourth and final 3G licence. The group is keen to see the licence go to a new market entrant, saying such a move ‘would be the opportunity of a real market opening today locked by the oligopoly of the three incumbents’. Libre Choix believes that if a fourth operator is given free reign to enter the sector, ‘real competition’ will follow in the short term via MVNOs. Although Libre Choix welcomes the government’s willingness to accelerate the implementation of measures [i.e. awarding the fourth licence] to help revive the French economy, it stresses that splitting the frequency blocks on offer among the existing incumbents would not materially help achieve this goal.
Add comment January 27, 2009
Anacom awards Portugal’s 4th mobile license to RNT
Portuguese telecommunications sector regulator Anacom has officially awarded the fourth mobile telephony operator license to Rede Nacional de Telecomunicacoes (RNT). RNT, which submitted the only bid on the tender for the fourth operator last October, is 85 percent owned by UK-group Telephony Holding and 15% by Portuguese operator Radiomovel. The operator plans to invest EUR 40 million in the project and should launch by the end of 2009. RNT is aiming for national coverage, using the frequencies between 450 and 470 MHz, and has set an initial target of 300,000 clients. The new operator will compete with TMN, Vodafone Portugal, Optimus and Radiomovel, as well as with MVNOs Phone-IX and Zon Mobile.
Add comment January 23, 2009
Another retailer joins MVNO ranks (Poland)
Biedronka, the supermarket chain owned by Portuguese group Jeronimo Martins, has launched as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), according to Polish website www.di.com.pl. The resold mobile service is being offered under the brand ‘Tu Biedronka’, over the network of Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC). French-owned retail chain Carrefour already offers MVNO services in Poland under the Mova brand, and says it has signed up over 30,000 active customers since launching last April, a figure it plans to increase to 100,000 this year. According to figures quoted by di.com, at the end of the third quarter of 2008 ten MVNO operators in Poland shared 165,000 active users, or 0, 4% of mobile end-users in the country.
Add comment January 20, 2009
MVNO user bases reaches 3.5m in 3Q08 (Netherlands)
The popularity of the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business model continues to grow in the Netherlands, with the total number of customers signed up to one of the country’s 50 or so virtual providers reaching 3.51 million at 30 September 2008, up 10% year-on-year. According to Telecompaper MVNOs accounted for 17.3% of all SIM cards on the market at that date, up from 17.0% a year earlier. A number of new players entered the sector in the six months to end-September namely Easer Mobile, Tok Toe Mie, Youfone and Internet Overal, while several others closed down their MVNO operations. In addition, more entrants have since launched commercially in the country or announced plans to launch in early 2009, such as Blyk and Telesur, the Dutch group said.
Add comment January 15, 2009
KPN introduces no-frills MVNO service in France
KPN (Netherlands) has revealed it is launching a no-frills, low-cost MVNO service in France under the brand name Simyo, leasing network capacity from Bouygues Telecom to piggyback the service. Reuters reports that the launch, which continues the group’s cautious approach to expanding beyond its core markets, will take place on Sunday with plans to expand its activities through the coming year. KPN sees growth potential in a pre-paid market it considers underdeveloped and overly expensive. It will target specific demographic groups (eg ethnic minorities) and lower-income groups with an offer promising call costs of EUR0.19 (USD0.25) per minute – which it says undercuts the current average of EUR0.32 per minute.
Add comment January 9, 2009
Spanish mobile subscribers pass 50 mln mark in Q3
Spanish mobile phone users rose to 50.74 million for a 109.9 percent penetration at the end of the third quarter from 47.61 million, or 105.3 percent, a year earlier, according to telecommunications regulator CMT. Postpaid lines rose to 29.46 million from 27.06 million, and prepaid lines fell to 20.22 million from 20.55 million. Notably, the number of datacards doubled to 1.06 million from 554,218 over the same period, with 574,201 UMTS cards and 482,131 HSDPA cards at the end of September. Mobile call minutes grew to 18.44 billion from 17.75 billion, with calls to fixed lines rising to 1.84 billion from 1.83 billion and calls to mobiles growing to 15.49 billion from 14.84 billion. Movistar had a 45.8 percent share of customers, followed by Vodafone with 30.6 percent, Orange with 20.7 percent, Yoigo with 1.5 percent, Euskaltel with 0.5 percent and other MVNOs 0.9 percent.
Add comment December 26, 2008
