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Wednesday July 19, 2006
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 Virgin Mobile. Disney Mobile. Amp'd. Helio. Mobile ESPN. Working Assets. Wireless phone carriers? Not quite. All of these are MVNOs, or mobile virtual network operators.
Basically, MVNOs buy lots and lots of minutes from the few big companies who own cellular towers - primarily Sprint, Verizon and Cingular. Then they resell the minutes with their own brand, their own customer service, and sometimes their own phones. (The company an MVNO buys their minutes from, by the way, is an MVNE - a mobile virtual network enabler. I know, it's like these things were named by mobile virtual psychotherapists.) MVNOs are big, and they're getting bigger. They're also where a lot of the competition and innovation is in the cell-phone world. But they suffer from a truly incomprehensible moniker. I put the question to you: what's a more memorable way to describe these cell-phone companies that don't own their physical networks?
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July 19, 2006 4:47 PM
Does the average consumer care that their cellular provider rents bandwidth/usage on the big boy networks? MVNO, as with other cryptic jargon, is fine for the geeky crowd and industry folks who use the term. However, I still have a suggestion to put out there... Recellulars. While I'm wasting hard drive space on MVNOs, I'd also like to propose a Helio death watch.
July 19, 2006 10:28 PM
I like Dave's idea: "Recellulars." Definitely a good name, even if a bit tongue-in-cheek. :) I'm all on that Helio death watch. After that ad I saw on TV, it's just a matter of time, lemme tell ya. :(
July 20, 2006 1:01 AM
thats funny i actully just got an XE phone at an FYE music store, and you get discounts EVERYWHERE! FN awesome and they have good rates, free incoming txts andn minutes, their phones are preety cool too, kills the other guys, www.xemobile.com
July 20, 2006 12:55 PM
Agreed, Helio, Ampd, ESPN, Disney, its a Helio not a phne! give me a break!...but i came across one that actually looks good, XE Mobile, its pay as you go cell service and targets students, but at the same time it gives their customers access to the largest discount program. So all you do is show your phone at a Foot Locker and they give you a 10% discount!! they signed up 20,000 locations that accept the phone as a discount card, its preety cool. and they are GSM for a change.
July 20, 2006 12:58 PM
Agreed, Helio, Ampd, ESPN, Disney, its a Helio not a phne! give me a break!...but i came across one that actually looks good, XE Mobile, its pay as you go cell service and targets students, but at the same time it gives their customers access to the largest discount program. So all you do is show your phone at a Foot Locker and they give you a 10% discount!! they signed up 20,000 locations that accept the phone as a discount card, its preety cool. and they are GSM for a change.
July 23, 2006 10:49 PM
My phone's sim card got recjected after putting in a new passcode for my phone. My phone isn't working, I used my landline to call customer service ( 1-877-994-3893.The customer service guy keeps telling me he can't help me because he is alone and has no access to anything.
July 24, 2006 7:10 PM
Helio discount - call 310.806.0579