Questions to ask a network operator before starting your own mobile brand
You have decided to launch your own mobile brand? Excellent! If you’re new to the telecommunications domain, there are a lot of acronyms and other telco jargon that you don’t need to know about, but selecting the right network partner is something that is 100% within your control
In this article, we use mobile brand and MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) interchangeably. To learn more, read our article “Sub-brand, MVNO, virtual mobile brand... what is the difference?” article.
1. How many MVNOs do you have on your network, and what is their tenure?
A healthy response is a range of MVNOs from old to new. The older MVNOs prove the network operator’s wholesale pricing supports long-term business. The newer MVNOs show they’re still active in the market.
2. What is the total amount of MVNO subscribers compared to your base?
For this, you would be aiming for a minimum 10-15% of the total subscribers, otherwise, MVNOs don’t have much of a say. If your operator, for example, has 10 million subscribers, you would want at least 1 million of those to be MVNO subscribers.
3. How long does it typically take to onboard a new simple MVNO?
For an entry-level onboarding, around 8 weeks is a fair estimate. Some red flags to look out for here are if the MVNO aggregator or wholesale department does not commit to a confirmed go-live date. We recommend that the go-live date forms part of the overall contract.
4. What is the minimum costs of onboarding a new mobile brand?
This should not be more than $25k (US$17k) for a simple brand, and that fee will include your first batch of SIMs.
When mobile virtual network aggregators only have “we can tailor a solution for your specific needs” etc and no “standard onboarding” option, that can mean that each MVNO is a custom build, it’ll take a long time to go live, and it will be expensive.
5. What is included and excluded with my new MVNO?
You want to ensure your new mobile brand has the same or great capabilities as your potential competitors.
At a high level, an MVNO should have the following:
Payments including automated top-ups
Customer self-service onboarding and account management
Customer service centre and CRM (customer service will be supplied by the network partner)
MVNO management portal
Roaming capabilities
International calls
Several plans with different costs and inclusions
Sometimes the following are either excluded or are an optional extra:
Mobile App
3rd party API access
6. What is the expected revenue?
One of the best things about running an MVNO is that you don’t need a lot of subscribers to be profitable.
Your mobile brand should be able to make $220k+ (US$150k) per year from just 3,000 subs. This will vary depending on the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), which differs in each country.
7. What are the ongoing costs?
Ongoing costs should rise steadily with your growth. However, you should ask if there is a minimum active subscriber or revenue expectation.
8. What access do I have to the customer data?
We live in the information age, and data is the new gold. It’s your customers on your MVNO network, so you should have access to all of the data for your own business analytics and marketing purposes.
At a minimum, you should have daily reports for:
Customers and accounts
Top-ups and purchases
Itemised network usage
Arming yourself with the questions above will help you find the best possible network partner to launch your mobile brand.
If you would like to launch your own mobile brand, or if you are a mobile network operator and are interested in having the IMZI MVNO solution on your network, get in touch with our experienced team.
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