MVNOs are a key part of the Vodafone business, says its director of strategy and wholesale Vishal Dixit.
This comes after the operator strengthened its long-term partnership with Lebara Mobile through an exclusive three-and-a-half-year deal earlier this month.
The extended partnership means that Lebara Mobile customers will now be able to access Vodafone’s 5G service, which is available in 129 UK towns and cities, along with 4G calling, which launched earlier this year.
Lebara Mobile is the operator’s oldest UK MVNO partner, having been on the Vodafone network since 2007.
Dixit says the fresh contract reflects how significant MVNOs are to the mobile network operator.
“We see MVNOs as an important part of the UK mobile market,”he says.
“They provide choice to customers, and in many areas they work in specific customer segments where the main telco brands don’t have the best reach or awareness.
“Our strategy is very much that MVNOs are a complementary part of our overall business. We are actively in discussions with various MVNOs that are not yet partners. At the same time, we’re seeking to renew and extend partnership terms with our long-standing partners.”
Vodafone’s staple of MVNOs includes Voxi, Talkmobile and Virgin Mobile, with these partnerships critical for challenging EE, adds Dixit.
“Our network strategy within the UK is to be one of the top two high- quality networks, really challenging the incumbent, which is BT/EE. To support this we need good scale, so therefore it’s very important for us to have healthy, successful MVNOs also on our network.”
