When MVNOs fight back: T-Mobile faces fallout from its own offering
A year into T-Mobile's MVNE program, one of its earliest partners raises concerns — and asks for compensation over unmet expectations.
T-Mobile introduced an offering called "Your Name, Our Wireless" a year ago, aimed to help small companies introduce their own MVNO services to run on T-Mobile's network. But now, as per Light Reading, one of the main customers of the offering may be planning to leave Magenta.
Back when T-Mobile introduced the offering, it named Roccstar Wireless as an example of the kind of company that could use the carrier's new Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) service. Now, this same Roccstar seems to be unhappy with T-Mo.
The MVNO reportedly wrote a letter to T-Mobile that Light Reading also saw. The letter claims T-Mobile is failing to deliver on core obligations, including technical, legal, and operational, and has cost millions for the company. It's also allegedly putting their brand and compliance standing at risk.
Roccstar is reportedly demanding T-Mobile to reimburse the $165,000 the company spent on the offering. Also, Roccstar is said to be requesting some reimbursement of the $3.8 million Roccstar spent on marketing.
Roccstar launched in 2023 and at the time, it used another MVNE provider, PWG. Reportedly, T-Mobile offered the company to switch to T-Mobile with the "Your Name, Our Wireless" offering. Then, Allen switched the MVNO and its 30,000 customers to T-Mobile's network, but not too late after that, they started experiencing problems.
Roccstar's letter claims there were problems with activating physical SIMs, lack of management tools, and insufficient reporting capabilities.
That's not the first time this is happening, though. Back in 2022, MVNO Lycamobile and T-Mobile argued and T-Mo ended up filing a lawsuit against the MVNO. In the lawsuit, T-Mo claimed it accidentally undercharged the MVNO for more than a year and also accused the MVNO of not catching it.
The two companies settled the legal battle last year, with no terms disclosed. Lycamobile reportedly shifted its US operations from T-Mo's network to AT&T's.
Apart from T-Mobile, there are other companies offering MVNE services for the US market. Those include Gigs, OXIO, Reach, Ztar Mobile, and Spenza. Roccstar's complaints come at a time when it seems more and more people are starting to get interested in MVNOs.
MVNOs use MVNEs to handle essential backend operations which include billing, customer service, and network access. This potential dispute hints that MVNOs are looking for more flexible and cost-effective solutions, which could mean their needs are evolving.
This is in tune with the broader trend in the industry, as MVNOs are looking to enhance their service offerings and competitiveness.
For anyone curious about starting their own wireless brand or just interested in how the industry works behind the scenes, this little shakeup is a reminder that even big partnerships can hit a few bumps. As MVNOs grow and evolve, I'm increasingly interested to see which networks step up – and which ones get left behind.
Meanwhile, the big three may start to feel the heat from MVNOs soon. T-Mobile recently had quite a lot of customers angered by a price hike on older plans, which, when it happened, blew the internet a little bit. In the meantime, data showed AT&T may also be losing some customers.
Verizon openly shared it's lost quite a lot of customers recently, the biggest loss since 2021. Nevertheless, Verizon seems not to be too concerned with MVNOs, especially those running on its own network, and it's recently reportedly said it wins either way. But one is clear – more and more people are looking into MVNOs as a more flexible and cheap alternative to the big three. Let's see how the landscape shifts in the near future, I'd say!
Back when T-Mobile introduced the offering, it named Roccstar Wireless as an example of the kind of company that could use the carrier's new Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) service. Now, this same Roccstar seems to be unhappy with T-Mo.
Roccstar is reportedly demanding T-Mobile to reimburse the $165,000 the company spent on the offering. Also, Roccstar is said to be requesting some reimbursement of the $3.8 million Roccstar spent on marketing.
It was sold to me as a solution.
-Roccstar co-founder Darius Allen told Light Reading
Roccstar launched in 2023 and at the time, it used another MVNE provider, PWG. Reportedly, T-Mobile offered the company to switch to T-Mobile with the "Your Name, Our Wireless" offering. Then, Allen switched the MVNO and its 30,000 customers to T-Mobile's network, but not too late after that, they started experiencing problems.
Roccstar's letter claims there were problems with activating physical SIMs, lack of management tools, and insufficient reporting capabilities.
That's not the first time this is happening, though. Back in 2022, MVNO Lycamobile and T-Mobile argued and T-Mo ended up filing a lawsuit against the MVNO. In the lawsuit, T-Mo claimed it accidentally undercharged the MVNO for more than a year and also accused the MVNO of not catching it.
The two companies settled the legal battle last year, with no terms disclosed. Lycamobile reportedly shifted its US operations from T-Mo's network to AT&T's.
MVNOs use MVNEs to handle essential backend operations which include billing, customer service, and network access. This potential dispute hints that MVNOs are looking for more flexible and cost-effective solutions, which could mean their needs are evolving.
This is in tune with the broader trend in the industry, as MVNOs are looking to enhance their service offerings and competitiveness.
For anyone curious about starting their own wireless brand or just interested in how the industry works behind the scenes, this little shakeup is a reminder that even big partnerships can hit a few bumps. As MVNOs grow and evolve, I'm increasingly interested to see which networks step up – and which ones get left behind.
Meanwhile, the big three may start to feel the heat from MVNOs soon. T-Mobile recently had quite a lot of customers angered by a price hike on older plans, which, when it happened, blew the internet a little bit. In the meantime, data showed AT&T may also be losing some customers.
Verizon openly shared it's lost quite a lot of customers recently, the biggest loss since 2021. Nevertheless, Verizon seems not to be too concerned with MVNOs, especially those running on its own network, and it's recently reportedly said it wins either way. But one is clear – more and more people are looking into MVNOs as a more flexible and cheap alternative to the big three. Let's see how the landscape shifts in the near future, I'd say!
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