16 November 2005
MVNOs Heat Up
Posted by Ryan Sarver under: Business; Mobile; Technology .
There has been a lot of buzz lately about the upcoming offerings from some MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). Most notably ESPN, Disney, Amp’d and Helio will be releasing virtual networks directed at specific market niches.
For those of you who don’t know what a MVNO is, MVNO’s are mobile operator that do not own their own spectrum and usually do not have their own network infrastructure. Instead, MVNO’s have business arrangements with traditional mobile operators to buy minutes of use (MOU) for sale to their own customers.
Most interesting to us are the offerings from Amp’d and Helio. Both companies are targeting the 18-35 year-old demographic and hope to gain traction by acting as the antithesis of the incumbent carriers. Where the carriers lock down advanced phone features and typically are slow to roll out high-end phones that are available in other countries, Amp’s and Helio take the position that if the phones supports it, they support it. That means streaming video, music, games… all driven via their content portals.
This opens up some interesting possibilities for Qiio and we look forward to the inevitable shake up of the mobile industry.
