New research from InfoCom, market research and Consultancy Company, has revealed that data-only MVNOs rely heavily on mobile data services for the purposes of up-selling and cross-selling and for adding value to their products and services. These findings are based on the recent research which InfoCom carried out on new MVNOs’ business strategies across a number of markets. Although the research categorizes the various data-only MVNOs based on their adopted business strategies, the main focus of the research is on devise-based MVNOs and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) MVNOs.

ICT retailers such as Amazon or Best Buy (News - Alert) come under device-based MVNOs. However, there are instances of vendors who rely on their distribution network to increase mobility for their laptop offerings. These vendors deploy the complete MVNO model for managing major portions of their service cycle which includes billing, CRM, sales and distribution. They also have in place their own pricing models which includes both prepaid and postpaid plans which are customized specially for the various brands of laptops they offer.

Majority of the M2M MVNOs are providers of M2M solutions and have included mobile data connectivity for their M2M applications or simply offer mobile data services along with their own M2M solutions. By providing mobile data service connectivity issues are effectively addressed while the value of the products gets a boost.

In a number of instances these organizations collaborate with other MVNOs or enter into wholesale agreements with regionally and globally based network operators to facilitate a more comprehensive reach and availability of service beyond their local market boundaries. Additionally, inclusion of mobile data services provides these companies with a competitive edge among their peers and rivals.

A few of the MVNOs use mobile data services to reduce the churn rate for their core products and services. As an example, ICT solution providers for enterprise customers introduced MVNO models into bundling strategies that focused on reducing churn among enterprise customers.

A large number of data-only MVNOs prefer deploying a full MVNO business model for the management of their service infrastructure covering billing, CRM, sales and distribution but prefer retaining flexibility over providing of services and mapping out of tariff plans.