MVNOs are revolutionizing the way communication or media companies market wireless services, target specific communities with personalized services, establish new partnerships, and experiment with WiFi.I recently read about Sky Deaton and his new MVNO Helio, a partnership between Earthlink and SK Telecom. The launch in spring will include an exclusive deal with the popular social networking service MySpace and some interesting Korean handsets. One of the phones (pearly-white case) is named YT, after the female skateboarder in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, a good indication of the targeted audience :-)
We can expect creative outlets and partnerships since the Helio's executives looked at SK's TTL zones/lounges for inspiration. This would truly bring differentiators to the new virtual operator.
Today, Sun is helping MVNO deployments around the world by focusing on the following elements of the value chain:
Innovating on the device
The magnitude of Java services growth is remarkable as operators are expected to
increase these service revenues to $15 billion by 2008, according to industry
analysts. Java offers new business opportunities to mobile operators by
increasing network traffic, encouraging use of premium services, and allowing
revenue-sharing with content providers. Specifically, Java is breaking down
device fragmentation barriers for MVNOs:
- Virgin Mobile USA uses Kyocera's phones running Java to provide subscribers greater access to games.
- ESPN's Sanyo-made CDMA 1x EV-DO clamshell running Java offers automatic push service, the ability to personalize content delivered to the phone, one-touch access to sports news and real-time game updates.
- Four out of the six Boost Mobile phones are Java enabled to offer a wide array of application/ringtone choices that provide a little of everything to satisfy all tastes.
Building the converged IP network
An IMS-enabled network that allows seamless roaming and
terminating of IP services over fixed and mobile networks will generate an
increase in MVNO initiatives. Amp'd, Disney, and other MVNOs are looking at incorporating WiFi into their offerings.
At Sun, we have been relentlessly working at integrating Solaris 10, Java Enterprise Systems, and ATCA carrier grade servers into IMS solutions. The value of integrating Sun's identity management suite with the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) was recently highlighted in a whitepaper.
The HSS stores key subscriber information, and application information, allowing
users to locate and communicate with other subscribers. To integrate IMS
infrastructure with the existing network, operators will need connectivity
between the HSS and heterogeneous legacy systems, and this is what Sun's
identity management suite does extremely well.
Managing the back end
- Billing and CRM are fundamental business processes of MVNOs (and MVNEs).
Order entry, device management, provisioning, and service assurance are other
elements of the OSS/BSS infrastructure that require integration and web enablement. Sun is driving NGOSS implementations, leveraging our community efforts with the OSS/J initiative (using SOA and Java). - With branded content from both inside and outside the organization, proper
billing of services internally and externally will be extremely important to the
MVNO business plan. Highdeal's Transactive engine provides pricing flexibility and is IMS ready to support payment convergence. Highdeal is also an OSS/J community member. - MVNOs will also need to interface their BIDW systems with other organizations. According to the 2005 Winter Corporation TopTen program, Sun platforms run 6 of the 10 largest data warehouses.
