MVNO Market To Generate Revenue Worth $155.2 Billion by 2031

The global mobile virtual network operator market is projected to generate $155.2 billion revenue by 2031, advancing at a CAGR of 8.7% during 2022–2031. This can be ascribed to segment-targeted pricing and innovative distribution strategies, a rapid rise in the demand for triple-play services and low-cost mobile services in developing countries, and a surge in mobile device penetration. Moreover, the increasing demand for communication-based services and remote work solutions, along with improved network services, further contributes to the market demand.

Full MVNO Category To Show Fastest Growth

Based on business model, the market is classified into full, service, and reseller MVNOs. Among these, the full MVNO category will register the fastest growth during the forecast period, advancing at a CAGR of over 9%. This can be due to the deployment of a full MVNO networking infrastructure, as it needs minimal capital investment and provides full call control, allowing users to call internationally at much cheaper prices.

Furthermore, full MVNOs are responsible for complete operations, customer-related services, and data, allowing for whole control over all products and services. The providers are also free to build and launch new services. Additionally, under this business model, the operator has complete control over the entire core infrastructure, including GMSC for voice and the system, HSS/HLR for services, GGSN for data, and billing processes, which boosts the market growth in this category.

Based on subscriber, the market is bifurcated into consumer and enterprise. Of these, the enterprise category will register faster growth during the predicted period. This can be ascribed to the rising investments by commercial businesses to improve their services through better connectivity, and several small and mid-sized enterprises adopt such services to gain better visibility and control over their mobile communications.

Whereas, the consumer category accounted for a larger revenue share in 2021, and it is further expected to maintain its position during the predicted period. This is attributed to the rising number of mobile network subscribers and the increasing penetration of mobile devices.

Furthermore, the cellular M2M category, based on service type, will witness the fastest growth in the coming years, owing to the increasing number of partnerships between M2M service providers and MNOs, rising technological advancements in M2M, and surging mobile network coverage.

Geographically, Europe is expected to lead the MVNO market in the coming years. This can be due to the presence of a large number of MVNOs, high average net revenue per user (ARPU), and a rise in the provision of integrated services such as voice over internet protocol (VoIP), in the region. Moreover, because of the success of MVNOs in Europe, there has been a rise in the competition among telecom operators, thus resulting in lower telecom service prices.

On the other hand, the APAC market will register the fastest growth in the coming years. This can be ascribed to the high investment by industry players, rising IT and telecom infrastructure, high internet penetration due to the rise in population, increasing number of mobile phone base stations, and growing construction of 5G networks, in the region.

Moreover, the regional market gains new opportunities, as a result of the integration of cutting-edge communication technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive learning, and edge computing. These technologies add flexibility to the workflow and boost the productivity of numerous businesses.

Some of the major market players are AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., T-Mobile US Inc., Red Pocket Inc., Truphone Limited, CITIC Telecom International Holding Limited, BT Group plc (BT Mobile), Airvoice Wireless LLC, Giffgaff Limited, Lycamobile UK Limited, Asahi Net Inc., and Virgin Media.