Comments on: Easy Come, Easy Go

By: GigaOM Easy Mobile will return with ads and free calls «

GigaOM Easy Mobile will return with ads and free calls « — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 07:30:15 +0000

[...] 12:30 AM PT | No comments Anyone remember Easy Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), the very same company that shut down after being in business for barely nine months. Well it’s going to be back, this [...]

By: Telco 2.0

Telco 2.0 — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 15:59:26 +0000

Building a Telco 2.0-Compliant MVNO…

I have been talking to several middle and senior managers at mobile operators around Europe in recent weeks and the overall mood is grim. Several are sitting on or waiting for redundancy packages (which are generally quite generous), but most…

By: Jeremy Pepper

Jeremy Pepper — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 18:44:01 +0000

Okay, full disclosure, I am a huge Easy fan, and think Stelios is a genius. Plus, I like the color orange.

But, the way I read the Reuters article is that EasyMobile is just shutting down in the Netherlands, but will continue on in Germany and Britain (unless I misread). So, is the MVNO business dying, or is Easy just being smart by getting out of one saturated market?

By: Mobile Comentator

Mobile Comentator — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 12:27:08 +0000

MVNO services are suffering from the same problem that hampered the growth of broadband over several years in many countries: unattractive economics. The MVNO model is simple: purchase data and minutes from an incumbent for a “low”cost and then resell on to customers, usually by proposing “attractive” value added services. The problem is that the wholesale prices charged by incumbents to MVNOs are too high (they want ensure they don’t lose their most attractive customer segments, those on monthly price plans). MVNOs subsequently have a hard time amortizing their significant marketing costs that is necessary to gain traction. Ultimately, I believe that few MVNOs will succeed - perhaps some services aimed at high-end users (with a high ARPU) may have a chance.

IMHO, ultimately the biggest risk to incumbents - and greatest potential for newcomers - may come from WiMax/Wifi enabled phones. Dual phones are already hitting the market in some countries, and once the technology nits have been hammered out, it should be cheap(ish) for newcomers to set up city/state/country-wide.

By: Baris Karadogan

Baris Karadogan — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 04:50:50 +0000

Sriram,
Carriers are making good money on their enterprise customers and they can sell to them efficiently. Why would they wholesale capacity to MVNO who will go after their best customers?

Carriers are allowing MVNO’s to happen so that MVNO’s can go after customers they can’t acquire efficiently.

By: Mike Rundle

Mike Rundle — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 01:48:47 +0000

I bought a Helio Kickflip the same day that the company launched, and for more than two months the idiots there couldn’t figure out how to activate my phone. Now I returned the phone and got a Blackberry 8700c and it’s a lot better.

By: Jesse Kopelman

Jesse Kopelman — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 01:41:20 +0000

Sriram, I don’t think the US carriers have the network capacity to support their own corporate plays and MVNO going after the same market. What this argues is an alternative network built data-centric from the ground up. Perhaps Sprint’s eventual 2.6 GHz play?

By: Katie Fehrenbacher

Katie Fehrenbacher — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 00:13:11 +0000

thanks Chris, that should fix em. - KF

By: chris holland

chris holland — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 00:01:31 +0000

Hi Katie :) your first links to amp’d mobile and helio appear to be broken :)

By: sriram bala

sriram bala — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 22:21:30 +0000

Instead of chasing a miniscule demography of the consumer market, if these MVNOs refocused on the enterprise customer, they would have better acquisition rates. Give an enterprise customer plenty of wireless bandwidth, a fat pipe, and a series of applications to choose from, and he will sign up. Content providers need to think beyond email and IM. What if Salesforce.com launched an MVNO, and let you pick and choose applications on the device?