the UK MVNO business

The total UK wholesale market is estimated to be worth £1 billion, and is predicted to jump to £2 billion by 2012. T-Mobile takes around 60 per cent of the market via its Virgin Mobile MVNO deal.

Vodafone has 17 per cent via BT Mobile, Asda Mobile, Talk Mobile, Lyca rival Lebara Mobile and TomTom.

It also takes incremental revenue from Nomi Mobile, which runs off BT Mobile.

O2 has around 17 per cent too, via its Tesco Mobile MVNO, which is closing on two million customers.

Orange lags behind. Its management team, led by Virgin Mobile co-founder Tom Alexander, is understood to be keen on wholesale. It works with IDT Mobile and ad-funded MVNO Blyk.

Negotiations with Orange are likely to put Lycamobile's scheduled August launch back.

Meanwhile Nowtel, the UK's number two calling card business, is preparing its own UK MVNO bid. source

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Bangkok Post - ‎Nov 24, 2009‎

When one talks about shared network infrastructure, the mass media seems to equate that with being anMVNO, or Mobile Virtual Network Operator. ...

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As an MVNO, Tesco has a fairly free hand regarding the the markets it goes after. O2 says it has sold over one million iPhones since September 2007

Setting up an MVNO

The process for establishing an MVNO depends on what services the MNO is supplying to the MVNO and is a commercial matter between those two parties. There are no specific MVNO-related Ofcom specific telecoms regulatory requirements beyond those in the published General Conditions of Entitlement which can be found on our website athttp://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ioi/g_a_regime/gce/gcoe/

The licences that an MVNO would need to operate within the UK will depend on the exact nature of the business including whether or not spectrum is used. Ofcom does not require notification before electronic communications networks and services can be operated in the UK.

As always with these issues we would advise you to seek your own legal advice as to what your regulatory obligations would be.

A list of all major MVNOs can be found in our extended overview of the UK MVNO sector in the telecoms section of the February 2006 Interim Communications Market Report, available at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/cm/interim/feb06_report/comms_mkt.pdf.

source: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ioi/mnvo/

United Kingdom(UK)	BT Mobile Home	GSM	T-Mobile
United Kingdom(UK)	Dot-Mobile	GSM	Vodafone	Student-focused ESP offering low prices and SMS and minute bundles, or "units".
United Kingdom(UK)	Easy Mobile	GSM	T-Mobile	ESP launched in March 2005
United Kingdom(UK)	ExtremeMob	GSM	Vodafone	A combination of stylish handsets, value for money tariffs and a 24/7 customer call centre will make ExtremeMob stand out in the mobile sector.
United Kingdom(UK)	Fresh	GSM	T-Mobile	Pre-paid MVNO venture of Carphone Warehouse and Value Telecom.
United Kingdom(UK)	Intercity Mobile Communications	GSM
United Kingdom(UK)	Mobile World	GSM	T-Mobile	Pre-paid MVNO venture of Carphone Warehouse launched in April 2005.
United Kingdom(UK)	Kingston Communications	GSM	O2	MVNO launched in 2000
United Kingdom(UK)	One.Tel	GSM	Vodafone
United Kingdom(UK)	Project Telecom	GSM	Vodafone	Business service provider, acquired by Vodafone in 2003
United Kingdom(UK)	Rok Telecom	GSM	T-Mobile
United Kingdom(UK)	Sainsburys Telecom	GSM	O2	Service provider, partnership with Carphone Warehouse and O2
United Kingdom(UK)	Singlepoint Limited	GSM	Vodafone	Service provider launched in 1997, acquired by Vodafone in 2003
United Kingdom(UK)	Tesco Mobile	GSM	O2	MVNO launched in September 2003
United Kingdom(UK)	Toucan Mobile	GSM	T-Mobile	Postpaid MVNO for Toucan, telecoms company IDT Europe's consumer telephony brand - launching later in 2005
United Kingdom(UK)	Virgin Mobile	GSM	T-Mobile	Famous MVNO, launched November 1999 and recently announced over 5 million customers.
United Kingdom(UK)	Yes Telecom	GSM	Vodafone