Jignesh Dave, Managing Director of Next Communications, has created a unique approach to launching MVNOs that has produced a flawless success rate. Here, Jignesh discusses the key challenges that hold most MVNOs back, and details his methods for overcoming those obstacles.
Addressing the staggering rate of failure for MVNOs
Only 3% of aspiring MVNOs actually reach the contract signing stage, and a mere 0.3% of MVNOs end up being truly sustainable in the long term. This clearly demonstrates that launching and scaling an MVNO is far more challenging and complicated than most expect.
Many businesses struggle with this because of a lack of understanding of the telecoms industry, difficulties with the technology, or an approach that isn’t conducive to success as an MVNO.
When Jignesh first began exploring the prospect of becoming an MVNO, the MNO he sought support from offered very little help, and actually kept him waiting for nine days before requesting a deposit of $1 million before he could move any further.
That experience opened Jignesh’s eyes, and inspired him to make the process of launching an MVNO more approachable for more businesses.
Jignesh Dave, MD of Next Communications (JD): “97% of businesses that aspire to launch mobile services don’t even reach the contract signing stage. That was a staggering statistic for me, so I wanted to investigate why this was happening and, more importantly, how to solve the problem.”
A key issue is that while many MVNOs are seeking to plug end-consumer gaps, they have to rely on technology providers and aggregators for guidance. Often these companies don’t fully understand what the end-customers of the brands actually want.
JD: “Think about it logically. No one buys a McDonald’s burger because they know the bun was baked in their favourite bakery. But in telecoms, MVNOs are often being driven by the needs of MNOs or tech providers, rather than the needs of the end-user. It doesn’t make sense.”
Jignesh and his team set out to change this and create a new, easier, more customer-centric way to build an MVNO business.
They knew it was important to move away from the traditional model of relying heavily on MNOs or aggregators, and instead wanted to create something unique and valuable to really help the MVNOs and their end-customers.
Building a successful business like an aircraft
JD: “We started focusing internally, rather than externally, to build a strong business. So, we looked at the business in an aircraft analogy, understanding how we could get our business to “take off” and “fly” continuously.”
“If you don’t have cargo or passengers, the aircraft is not required, so we knew we needed the right customers who we could take from A to B. Our pilots were our management team, guiding the plane, our wings became our products and services, keeping us in the air. Of course, our two engines are marketing and sales, because without those, the flight cannot take off.”
The five key strengths of a successful B2B MVNO
From this structured approach, Next Communications identified five attributes that their company needed to best serve MVNOs looking to launch. This is how they created a unique value proposition and service offering.
JD: “We focused on these five attributes to build a unique value proposition that enables our customers to use our mobile services as a way to connect better with their end-consumers.”
1 – SWIFT
“We needed to be fast with onboarding customers.”
2 – SUPPLE
“We needed to use flexible, innovative telco solutions to meet our customers’ needs.”
3 – SUPPORTIVE
“We needed to deliver a seamless experience and great service, backed by always on customer service.”
4 – SMART
“We needed to use the latest tools (including Artificial Intelligence) to make customers’ lives easier, to make sure that they connect better with their consumers.”
5 – SECURE
“We knew cyber security was non-negotiable. You have to protect your consumers, and you have to protect your business from fraud.”
“So, we built our own proposition where we offered mobile network services on a subscription basis, offering a free trial (like a test-drive). Our customers wouldn’t have to build anything as a business. They can plug-and-play with our solution as a subscription.”
Introducing the “BrandVNO” approach
That’s how Next Communications came to create their unique approach of launching “BrandVNOs” to help enterprise customers overcome the challenges with becoming an MVNO.
This essentially enables new MVNOs to seamlessly launch mobile services under their own brand, without any of the traditional complexity or friction of the previous model.
JD: “What we do is help brands unlock airtime as a currency to drive incremental revenue or more loyalty from their end-customers. We use telco tech to build branded mobile networks (or other connectivity solutions), where you can take it to market, and that is what we call a BrandVNO.”
“But a key thing for us is simplicity. Very few travel or retail brands understand the telco industry jargon or conventions, and we want to change that. Like prepaid and postpaid, for example, where customers who pay in advance get higher tariffs. This is completely opposite to most other industries, where you get a cash discount if you pay in advance.”
Offering the full package in one comprehensive platform
The solution now sits within a flagship brand, running in three different continents across four different industries, called Next One SIM.
MVNOs can leverage both eSIM and physical SIM, depending on their end-customers’ needs, while offering everything from messaging to streaming.
JD: “We realised that if we’re going to enter a global ecosystem, we need to have a platform where a person who took a SIM card from Manchester going to Valencia should be able to top up, should be able to chat, should be able to get a service. So that’s what we’ve enabled, anytime, anywhere service.”
“We also believe MVNOs and their end-customers deserve 24/7, multi-lingual customer support, automated self-service, which is exactly what we’ve built.”
Another important aspect for Next Communications was taking that same simplicity and applying it to the front-end user experience. Helping new MVNOs onboard customers easily and conveniently is another key part of the BrandVNO experience.
JD: “Going back to our key characteristic of speed, we also provide a WhatsApp-based onboarding process. Within 85 seconds, we can onboard a customer without needing them to leave the WhatsApp window.”
This customer-focused approach is now enabling a wide range of businesses, from airlines to FinTech brands, to easily launch their own branded mobile services as BrandVNOs.
A 100% success rate for new MVNOs
JD: “To circle back to my earlier statistic, where only 3% of MVNOs were reaching the contract signing stage. Since we began supporting customers in March 2024, we haven’t had a single brand fail to launch their MVNO with us.”
“That’s a big paradigm shift, to move from 3% of people aspiring to become an MVNO to now 100% success rate with our plug-and-play offering.”
Key takeaways: The failure rate for MVNOs is frighteningly high. To help improve that, there are B2B MVNOs out there prioritising simplicity and customer centricity as the best path to success. Speed and flexibility are key for MVNOs, and those may be easier to achieve by working with a more agile, customer-focused partner than with traditional operators.
