Whoop! There It Is. Another New Mobile Phone
Company
Author: Josiah William

It seems to me that you need billions of dollars and many years
to build a major infrastructure to provide nation-wide cellular
service. Now new mobile phone companies are appearing
overnight. Companies like Virgin Mobile, STi Mobile, Boost
Mobile, Tracfone, and Net 10 have already claimed millions of
subscribers. Right on their heels even more new companies like
Helio, Amp'd, ESPN Mobile, and Disney Mobile are set to launch
in 2006.

Welcome to the era of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator or
MVNO. A MVNO buys airtime from a major wireless provider and
turns around and sells its own branded phones and services.
They've been around in the United States for a few years,
mostly as pre-paid companies. But now suddenly, they're hot.

Virgin Mobile is the largest MVNO in the U.S., using the Sprint
network and targeting the hip youth market. One of the reasons
for the more recent larger scale success is that US mobile
carriers are now willing to accommodate MVNOs more
aggressively.

Previously MVNOs just remarketed cellular services under their
own brand, but now a new wave of what I call Muscle-MNVOs are
not only using the major carriers network, but are providing
new value add-ons. STi mobile utilizes their international
calling card network to allow for cheap direct dial
international calls from their phones while using Sprint as a
backbone. Boost Mobile and Ampd Mobile are providing
multi-media downloads. ESPN Mobile and Disney mobile will
provide exclusive media capabilities as well. Helio, a joint
venture between SK Telecom (Korea) and Earthlink.net, will take
its already successful Korean muscle phones, muscle media, and
muscle services model from Korea and introduce it here in the
United States. I think these guys are very interesting.

Why are most of the major US mobile companies finally welcoming
MVNOs (because many did not in the past)? It is because much of
the main stream plan subscriber base is saturated, but the
growth opportunities for MVNOs marketing in the prepaid
markets, youth, and specialty areas is huge. The Yankee Group,
a technology research firm, projects that mobile virtual
network operators will generate $11 billion in service revenue
by 2010, up from $1.9 billion last year.

Sprint has been the most aggressive MVNO service provider.
Let's hear it for Sprint. I hope they are rewarded highly for
their support of competition and creativity in the Mobile
Marketplace.


About The Author: Josiah William works in marketing for Deal
King.http://www.dealking.com offers information, coupons, and
deals on many mobile products.