25 Years of MVNO: Revolutionizing the Telecom Industry

On November 11, 1999, Virgin Mobile made history as the first official MVNO, with Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson calling the existing mobile market a “scam” and accusing mobile providers of “bamboozling and short-changing” customers.

As an antidote to the scam, Virgin Mobile promised to simplify tariffs and save consumers money by offering a transparent, one-tariff system without contracts, aiming to disrupt the industry and challenge the status quo.

Denmark followed up and the Danish mobile network operator Sonofon, who initially refused access to what could have been the first MVNO (Sense Communications) back in 1998, entered into two MVNO agreements on August 2000, with the MVNO’s Club Blah Blah and Tele2 A/S.

Club Blah Blah (CBB Mobil), became Denmark’s first MVNO and the second in the world after Virgin Mobile, when it launched on 1. October 2000. Tele2 A/S followed, when it launched on the 9th of October 2000,, 8-days later than Club Blah Blah.

Meanwhile the MVNO Telmore, had also finalized an agreement with Danish incumbent TDC, and launched Telmore, on 30. October 2000.

The success of Telmore is underlined by its rapid growth from just 130,000 customers mid-2002, to 460,000 by the time TDC acquired the MVNO. In fact, the success and user satisfaction was so strong, that TDC (Nuday) still brands the former MVNO as Telmore today. The same goes for CBB Mobil who belongs to Telenor.

Between its launch in late 2000 and 2003 Telmore (and CBB Mobile) collectively acquired 43.7% of all new mobile customers in Denmark. They introduced competition into the market, resulting in prices falling 50% – but overall volumes of mobile traffic increasing.

The liberalization of the telecommunications market and the subsequent introduction of MVNOs have significantly transformed telephony services for the better. The benefits include price reductions, service innovation, greater consumer choice, and increased market penetration.

The amount, and subscribers of mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) services has increased at a considerable pace over the past years.

The number of MVNOs globally increased 61% between 2010 and 2018, to 1,300 active MVNOs operating in 80 countries, representing more than 220 million mobile connections – or approximately 2.46% of the total 8.9 billion mobile connections in the world.

Another major milestone was achieved in 2022 with 2.000+ MVNOs (independent and sub-brand MVNOs) in more than 90 countries.

And it just keeps growing and growing. By way of example, Mexico who had just 3 MVNOs in 2014 has grown to 111 MVNOs.

Mobile network operators in most countries, are today embracing MVNOs in line with increased mobile penetration and less organic growth.

In some markets MVNOs are contributing up to 30% of mobile network operators’ revenue, proving the MVNO model as a sustainable and profitable part of the telecom landscape.

The growth of MVNOs has been a significant driver of innovation and change to the old dusty pipes of the telecommunications industry, not only through new services and pricing models but also by fostering new job creation, skills, and business opportunities.

As the MVNO sector expanded, so did the need and investment in new types of support structures like Mobile Virtual Network Aggregators (MVNA) and Mobile Virtual Network Enablers (MVNE), which have played crucial roles in enabling and supporting MVNO operations and innovations.

The growth of MVNOs has directly fueled the expansion of MVNA and MVNE services, creating a new ecosystem of businesses that support mobile virtual operators.

This ecosystem has not only boosted the telecommunications sector but also contributed to job creation in areas like network management, technical support, customer service, and software development.

With the continuous innovation in mobile services, the roles of MVNAs and MVNEs have become more specialized, encompassing new skills in areas such as cloud computing, big data, and network automation.

As the MVNO sector continues to expand, driven by demand for lower-cost, flexible mobile services, the role of MVNAs and MVNEs is expected to grow even further, providing more business opportunities, investment, driving new job creation, and supporting the development of new skills in telecommunications.

As a little anecdote linking MVNO and MVNE together with the creative minds and pioneers behind MVNOs. Frank Rasmussen, the founder of the Danish MVNO Telmore (and a couple of other MVNOs) co-operated with the Danish MNO to launch a range of sub-brand MVNOs in Germany and the UK.

However, when the roll-out of these faltered, Rasmussen saw an opportunity and asked the MNO if he could help the clean up by taking over the leftover servers. He could, and with it he founded MVNO Systems, a MVNE solution for telecom operators and MVNO’s, which he sold the same year to Telenor.

The story of MVNOs is one of rapid innovation, disruption, and continued growth, transforming the telecom landscape in ways that continue to benefit consumers worldwide.

As the MVNO sector continues to expand, new opportunities for business, investment, and job creation will emerge, further cementing MVNOs as a vital force in the telecom industry.

So huge congrats and cheers to the next 25 years!

Website of the first four MVNOs: Virgin Mobile UK, Tele2 Denmark, Telmore Denmark and CBB Mobil Denmark