South Africa’s newest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), me&you mobile, has gone live, launching services through its website.
The company’s head, Brett Howell, said in an e-mail that it’s had a “great response”, though didn’t say how many sign-ups it has received.
Me&you mobile, which is part of the Durban-based Ignition Group, was launched in partnership with sister company MVN-X, the business headed by former Virgin Mobile South Africa CEO Steve Bailey that last year helped launch MRP Mobile, an MVNO, for retailer Mr Price.
Piggybacking on Cell C’s infrastructure, me&you mobile offers a Sim-only service to clients with competitive voice and data rates. Call rates start at just 39c/minute, with data starting at 15c/MB in-bundle.
MVNOs leverage third-party operators’ network infrastructure to provide services to consumers under their own brands.
Me&you mobile is targeted at a niche market of customers in the higher living standards measures who don’t want to be tied into 24-month contracts, but who still want flexibility that can’t be offered by prepaid.
The company uses a hybrid model, where customers are billed month to month.
The company does not subsidise or even sell handsets, but will direct customers to partners who do if they require a device. The names of these partners will be disclosed after launch, Howell told TechCentral in an interview in April.
The brand operates entirely online. Customers wanting a Sim place an order on the me&you website using their credit card. The Sim is then be delivered to them for a small fee. There’s a R29 Sim and connection charge, too.
The MVNO is targeting between 15 000 and 25 000 customers in its first year.
The launch of me&you mobile comes as speculation, first reported by TechCentral, mounts that First National Bank is poised to launch an MVNO of its own, also using Cell C’s network. — (c) 2015 NewsCentral Media