I’m seriously thinking about launching my own MVNO. I mean, how hard can it be, really? All the mobile virtual network enablers out there keep telling me it’s quick, easy and cheap, so why not? I’d call it Mike’s Awesome MVNO, and it would be available to my friends and family-and maybe my RCR colleagues, but only if I get a raise first.
Mike’s Awesome MVNO would be great. I would charge users, oh, $400 per month, but I wouldn’t give them access to data services because that’s too much trouble. And, just for fun, I would also charge them, oh, say, $1,000 to sign up for the service. I would describe it as a “processing fee,” or something. Why would I charge so much, you ask? Well how else am I going to retire a multimillionaire by next year?
I am joking, but only a little bit. Voce is an MVNO using Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s network that recently launched a trial service in Los Angeles. They are charging a one-time set-up fee of $1,000 and then $400 per month. I am not making this up.
I would’ve loved to be in the meeting where the Voce guys pitched their business plan. I bet the phrase “trust us” came up a lot. Or maybe they were all drunk. Yeah, I’m going to go with the drunk thing.
The reason Voce is charging so much for their service (did I mention it’s voice only?) is because they are also going to be like a “personal assistant” to their customers. Subscribers can call for restaurant reservations, travel arraignments, information research, that sort of thing. They will even come to your house and show you how to use your Voce phone if you can’t figure it out yourself.
So let’s do some comparison shopping: Right now, the Nextel part of Sprint Nextel Corp. is offering an unlimited voice plan for $100 per month. The carrier also offers a 411 service that provides driving directions, dinner reservations, movie listings and stuff like that for $1.40 per call. So with Nextel I could make unlimited voice calls as well as more than 200 calls to the 411 service-or about 6 per day-and still spend less money per month than I would with Voce. Of course, I’m not part of Voce’s target market: 40-60 years old and stinking rich.
I suspect Voce’s business model is a sign that the MVNO market is getting out of hand. I guess the Voce guys figured there were already too many MVNOs targeting the upscale youth market-Amp’d Mobile Inc., Helio L.L.C., Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C., Boost Mobile L.L.C., need I go on?-so they needed to look somewhere else.
With Voce getting ready to expand their service, I might as well get started on Mike’s Awesome MVNO. I’m not sure what Step 1 and Step 2 will be in my business plan, but I know exactly what Step 3 will be: Profit.
