Given how competitive, fragmented, and unpredictable the MVNO market has become, in some cases the best way to differentiate and gain a competitive edge is through innovations in your business model.
The second panel of the 2025 MVNO Nation USA event was made up of leaders who are well equipped to discuss innovative business models, based on their own experience and success stories.
Moderator Jon Horovitz, Principal Consultant at Atrium Unlimited Consulting was joined by Diane Acevedo, SVP of Operations and CX at Gabb, Daniel Upson, Director of Partnerships at Lebara, Susan Sorensen, Senior Director of Business Development at Plintron US, and Elizabeth Hunter, COO for Consumer Cellular.
Why Consumer Cellular is expanding to become an MVNE
Elizabeth kicked off the conversation by talking through a recent move by Consumer Cellular to become an enabler of new MVNOs.
This decision was made in part because of the growing trend where celebrities, influencers, and other up-and-coming brands in various sectors are trying to capitalise on their existing audiences by offering a mobile service.
So, Consumer Cellular is becoming an enabler because they believe their strengths and capabilities can allow them to take advantage of this trend by working with those new MVNOs.
As mentioned throughout this eBook, this trend creates a big opportunity in the US market to enable brands, celebrities, and so on. What they’ll need is the back-office capabilities that are less glamorous, but absolutely necessary to successfully provide their target audiences with a wireless service.
Admittedly, launching an MVNO has become a lot easier, but what most of these brands are going to be looking for is an established technical system that they can simply plug into. Consumer Cellular is now able to offer that, which is an intelligent innovation from their perspective.
How does Plintron view this new brand-driven trend as an aggregator?
Susan continued on the point about the opportunities coming from that trend, and Plintron is also pursuing the opportunity from their stand-point as an aggregator.
It was agreed that a lot of the success in the US MVNO market over the next couple of years will come from existing “known” brands who have an existing connection with a specific audience, as long as they’re able to market their wireless service effectively and deliver on their promises to customers.
That’s because becoming an MVNO is an opportunity for these brands to add more recurring revenue to their businesses. They already have an audience and distribution.
As one panelist said, “It’s almost like becoming an MVNO is made for these brands. Wireless just adds more stickiness to what they are already selling.”
The panel also noted that the differentiation MVNOs are looking for, to capture more market share, is already present in many of these brands. Their existing relationship and affinity with an already-engaged audience is their differentiation when they enter the MVNO market.
As another panelist added, “Being a successful MVNO is all about trust.”
How is Gabb innovating with their business model to overcome growth challenges?
Since Gabb has developed its own proprietary software in the “safe tech” space of protecting children and other vulnerable users from the harmful side of technology, their ability to navigate challenges and grow is innovative in its own way.
With a vision to expand globally, Gabb is focusing on software and working with a range of partners to achieve that.
Gabb has made the intelligent, innovative decision to build its own software, which means they can partner with suppliers, networks, and MVNOs to provide that software on a wealth of devices, meaning anyone with an iPhone or Android can access Gabb.
And how does Gabb differentiate now that many solution providers are entering the “safe tech” part of the market?
On Gabb’s devices, they provide their own proprietary operating system, designed specifically to protect children and empower parents, which means they control all the content on the phones being used by children.
This allows Gabb to place even more protection and safety within their products, so things like web browsers and social media apps aren’t present by default. This helps ensure the tech is safe and there’s no offensive or explicit content allowed on the operating systems.
This adds an extra degree of safety and trust that standard parental controls cannot offer, and that aligns with Gabb’s mission.
How does Lebara approach innovation?
Lebara’s approach provides a helpful reminder that innovation doesn’t have to be complicated.
Arguably, for MVNOs, solving a key customer problem with innovation simply means doing things differently and better than most MNOs.
That’s how Lebara has built its business model and its value proposition. As mentioned earlier, trust is key for MVNO success. In order to gain the trust of consumers across Europe, Lebara has based its mission around by providing:
- Great value
- Great customer service
- And a great network.
That allows them to feel like the “smarter choice” than MNOs for their customers. And that has helped Lebarra become the fastest-growing telco in Europe.
In terms of a growth strategy, Lebara has essentially templated its methodology and its proven formula, which can be used under brand license and franchise globally across locations like Europe, Australia, LATAM, the middle east, and so on.
They provide that methodology to entrepreneurs and brands who want to become MVNOs, allowing them to work with an existing formula, using Lebara’s experience and expertise to replicate the success in their specific region.
Each region is different, of course, but running an MVNO, with all the core parts of the business, is always the same.
People from outside the telco sector who want to run an MVNO should be looking for the most cost-effective and efficient way possible to launch that business, with the least amount of risk. So, the way in which Lebara provides the knowledge of proven success into those businesses is an attractive prospect.
How Consumer Cellular has maintained a competitive advantage in a crowded market
Consumer Cellular’s key demographic and customer base is in the senior citizen area of the market.
One of the ways Consumer Cellular has maintained such a successful relationship with that target audience is by using an intelligent understanding of their data usage to reward and retain their customers.
These customers typically use less than the average volume of data. So, unlike some of the bigger providers, Consumer Cellular takes advantage of the usage-based rates they pay to their carrier. They use that to subsidise and keep their prices low for customers. That reduces churn and keeps these customers satisfied with both their costs and their service.
Why Consumer Cellular has continued to innovate with its own stores
When Consumer Cellular’s partnership with retail chain Target was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant part of their distribution strategy had to be reassessed. That physical distribution needed to be replaced, so opening their own branded stores was seen as the solution.
The crucial innovation here, though, is how strategic and audience-centric Consumer Cellular was in choosing where to open their stores.
Again, catering to the specific target audience of senior citizens, the locations of these new stores, and the accessibility of those locations, have been tailored to those customers, making it as easy as possible for them to visit the stores regularly.
This is a great example of how it’s so important for an MVNO to “know your audience,” which will be discussed in more detail later in the eBook.
Technology is another way for MVNOs to differentiate and innovate
There are plenty of new technologies that can be used to innovate, but the panelists warned against using technology just for the sake of jumping on a trend.
Whatever the technology, whether it’s eSIM, FinTech, IoT, AI, or anything else, remember the key principles of the business and stay true to your customers’ best interests.
Any innovation on the technology side should be designed to add relevant value to your target audience, and avoid the temptation of trying to become too broad in your offering.
Again, on the recurring point of how vital it is to have a niche and specific target audience, one panelist said:
“You don’t need to be something to everyone, you need to be everything to your niche.”
So, if you’re an MVNO considering deploying new technologies, don’t forget it should be designed to help maintain the customer base you already have as much as it is attracting new customers.
The first thought with innovative new tech is usually as a way to attract new customers, but often it’s just as important to add new value to your existing customers to minimise churn.
Key take-aways and guidance for MVNOs
Perhaps the key take-away from this panel for MVNOs is not about any one particular type of innovation.
The key to each of these businesses’ innovations was to help them achieve their mission and provide the best possible service or product to their specific target audiences.
If you know the market, and know your customers well, you’ll find clear opportunities to innovate and differentiate by providing exactly what your target audience needs.
