Competition, tough times beginning to separate MVNO winners from losers

Annabeth Leow

Published Wed, Mar 25, 2020 · 09:50 PM

FOUR years into an experiment by mainstream mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to push into the Singapore consumer market, cracks are starting to show.

Loss-making first mover Circles.Life has laid off staff in recent months, although company sources told The Business Times that the deepest cuts have not been in Singapore but in its new markets of Taiwan and Australia.

And rival Zero Mobile, which suspended services in late 2019, was blacklisted by the regulator on March 12 and is being probed for possible consumer protection breaches.

But a recent MVNO launch by dormitory Wi-Fi provider Geenet shows there is still interest in this segment of the market - albeit of a more considered sort.

On March 5, M1 announced it would take on Geenet as its second MVNO after Circles.Life. MVNOs lease frequency on a wholesale basis from mobile network operators (MNOs) to offer retail services.…