We speak to Brad Joyner, National Sales and Business Development Director, about how Telstra Wholesale is supporting Australia’s thriving MVNO market.

When it comes to mobile services, Australia has one of the most vibrant MVNO markets in the world. There are now about 60 mobile virtual network operators competing in the retail market, which equates to about 2.4 MVNOs per million people. When compared to a global average of 0.13 and a European average of 0.78 MVNOs per million people, we can see Australia is well-served.

The MVNO segment is also showing signs of growing its share of the total mobile market. After being generally stable around nine to 10 per cent of market share over previous years, the MVNO share has grown toward 11 per cent in the past year.
 

Why Australia embraced MVNOs

“The best MVNOs have several strengths that enable them to appeal to customers,” Brad Joyner, National Sales and Business Development Director at Telstra said.

The first is their ability to differentiate their product offering. “Some MVNOs – for example Belong which has added 67,000 customers in its first year offering mobile services – have enjoyed stellar growth by leading with innovative pricing structures and contract models,” he said.
 

Australia has one of the most vibrant MVNO markets in the world. 
  

“MVNOs were also among the first to bring in BYO plans that appeal to customers who like to separate the cost of their device from the cost of the mobile plan.”

MVNOs can also carve out a profitable position in the market by focusing on under-indexed segments. Lycamobile, which launched in Australia in 2010, has built a strong customer base among expatriates and other segments that want high value international calls.

Finally, MVNOs like ALDIMobile are successfully providing compelling offers to their primary customers by leveraging the strength of their existing brands.

ALDIMobile’s success and its service has been recognised with the brand twice winning Roy Morgan’s monthly Mobile Phone Service Provider Customer Satisfaction Award in the first half of 2018. Telstra Wholesale is extremely proud to have been associated with them and their success.

Standing out from the crowd

“It is especially important for MVNOs to continue to work on their unique market positioning now that the major mobile network operators are entering the ‘unlimited’ data domain, with all the consequences for pricing of data,” Brad said.

“In order to stand out from the crowd in the current ‘unlimited data’ market, MVNOs have to go beyond the ‘me too’ offer and ensure there is a point of difference to their MVNO, beyond pricing and data.

“We’re continuing to invest more time listening to our customers and understanding their needs, and the needs of their end-customers. This is a gear change for Telstra Wholesale and our customers are really noticing that change through initiatives like Explore Connect and the forthcoming Market Extender product.”

These new ways of working are helping Telstra Wholesale respond in a more agile way and bring new features and offers to market more quickly. This helps MVNOs to create unique value for their customers Brad said. “By combining the ideas and ambitions of MVNOs with our technology and expertise, we can help ensure the Australian MVNO market continues to be vibrant, dynamic and diverse.”