- MVNE Oxio is working with vendor Comtrend to help rural ISPs get into the wireless game
- It’s costly for rural providers to launch mobile plans, but competition leaves them little choice
- Oxio is one of several players in the growing MVNE market
Oxio, a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE), wants to make it easier – and cheaper – for rural broadband providers to launch wireless service amid rising competition.
The company teamed up with Comtrend to launch what they called a “simplified” mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) platform geared towards rural ISPs that don’t have the cash or time to build their mobile biz from scratch.
MVNEs provide the infrastructure and services an MVNO needs to launch service using one or more of the Big 3 wireless carriers’ networks. But rather than just reselling a mobile network operator’s (MNO) offering, providers using Oxio can customize their plans for local market needs, Oxio CEO and Founder Nicolas Girard told Fierce.
“With Oxio, they can launch bespoke plans under their own name to preserve identity and strengthen loyalty in markets where customers often prefer the touch of a local provider,” he said.
The concept Girard described isn’t new, and MVNEs are a “burgeoning market,” as Wave7 Research Prinicipal Jeff Moore previously told Fierce. Examples of companies like Oxio include Gigs, Reach Mobile and MVNO Connect.
Oxio provides your standard MVNE services, such as billing systems, SIM provisioning and regulatory compliance. Its core network is connected to AT&T and the company uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) to run its cloud-native platform.
By working with Comtrend, which specializes in broadband networking gear for rural operators, Oxio hopes to “solve the capital, scale and technical barriers that have historically kept rural ISPs out of mobile,” Girard said.
Cost constraints for rural MVNOs
“Rural ISPS can’t afford spectrum licenses, tower infrastructure, or the complex mobile core systems needed to run a mobile network,” he explained. “Even as MVNOs, wholesale contracts with Tier-1 carriers are expensive, rigid and usually require scale that rural ISPs simply do not have.”
Indeed, going into mobile isn’t an easy decision for smaller ISPs, as margins are slimmer and it may mean slowing down fiber deployments and other infrastructure projects, said CoBank’s digital infrastructure lead Jeff Johnston in a blog. Unlike the big cable cos, small ISPs usually don’t have the luxury of offloading MVNO traffic to Wi-Fi networks to reduce expenses.
But rural providers aren’t left with many other options, Johnston said. Large wireline operators, fixed wireless access (FWA) carriers and satellite broadband are increasingly moving into rural markets as they chase funding from BEAD and other subsidy programs.
The National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC) in 2023 struck a wholesale agreement with AT&T to help small cable companies get into the wireless game. Nevertheless, some analysts are skeptical this kind of initiative will allow these operators to compete with the big guys.
Oxio's MVNE push
For Oxio’s part, its MVNE customer base continues to grow. The company earlier this year scored Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to operate its multi-carrier wholesale network in the U.S., and as of July has over 2 million activated lines in North America.
Although Oxio touts the ability to curate mobile plans, Girard noted not all providers need to jump out of the gate to do so.
“Some rural ISPs are energized by the idea of building their own custom mobile plans that meet the very specific needs of their subscriber base,” he said, while others “may want to start slowly by reselling pre-built plans, and Comtrend will have options for those businesses as well.”