Brussels, 12 February 2009 – Mobistar and Telenet today announced the extension of their strategic partnership for a period of at least 3 years. The new partnership has evolved into a full MVNO agreement (mobile virtual network operator). This implies that Telenet will develop its own MSC (mobile switching centre) and will collaborate with Mobistar for its voice & data radio infrastructure. Mobistar will be able to use Telenet's fibre optic network to optimize its backhaul.
In February 2006, Mobistar announced its first MVNO agreement with Telenet during the GSM congress in Barcelona. On the hand it is a strategic choice that allows Mobistar to reach specific segments and thus increase its market share in a competitive environment and on the other hand it allows Telenet to offer mobile telephony as an extra service to its customers. To date, the partnership strategy has proven successful for both operators.
After 3 years Telenet began its search for a new partner to continue its mobile activities. And today Mobistar and Telenet reconfirmed the success of their partnership strategy and announced a full MVNO agreement. The new MVNO agreement has been reached for a period of at least 3 years. This means that Telenet will invest in its own MSC to strengthen the go-to-market of fixed-mobile convergence services.
The experience and the offer of the two operators will contribute to real convergence opportunities for fixed and mobile, Internet and voice, as well as operational synergies. This partnership agreement will enable Telenet to further expand its mobile voice and data offer with the support of Mobistar's radio infrastructure and experience. Telenet can also access the extensive handset and smartphone catalogue of Mobistar. In addition to the MVNO agreement, Mobistar will be able to use Telenet’s fibre optic network in Flanders to optimize its backhaul.
Duco Sickinghe, CEO of Telenet: “With this agreement we can make the mobile Internet market more dynamic. In July 2006, Telenet added mobile voice to its 'triple play' offer following a partnership with Mobistar. Today, this full MVNO is a major step toward the development of Telenet Mobile as a fourth pillar, in its own right, in addition to Internet, fixed telephony and television. It means that in the long term Telenet will be able to fully compete in every segment, i.e. the so-called quad play. This agreement also means Telenet is able to make the step towards more advanced products and services made possible by the increasing convergence between fixed and mobile telephone and Internet applications.“
Benoit Scheen: “This MVNO agreement with Telenet strengthens our strategic position and confirms that our partnership approach works. We are glad that Telenet, our first MVNO partner, is now also our first Full MVNO partner. They are an innovative player in Flanders and an important partner for the future. Access to their fibre optic network can offer additional possibilities to manage our backhaul. The expected growth of mobile data traffic will require increasing fixed network capacity to base stations and Telenet will offer this extra handling capacity.”