Mobile Network Comparison

If you haven’t already seen it, check out the first part of our interview with tello, a new network hoping to shake up the MVNO market.

How much do you know about the ecosystem of the UK mobile phone market? What lessons do you feel will be most useful from your experience in overseas markets and how would you characterise your particular approach over here?

Since our experience in the telecom field is pretty vast, a big part of our database consists of UK customers. We already conducted several market surveys in order to expand our understanding and approach over the UK. Plus, we constantly work to apply our existing knowledge and experience in the complex MVNO market from the UK.

So why in particularly did you choose to work with Hutchison-Whampoa in the UK?

Our criteria for selecting a partner were pretty simple. We were looking for a flexible and reliable partner. We chose Three Mobile because they offer a great quality service at a very competitive pricing. Plus another aspect that played a significant role when selecting the network was their data speed, because we care about future trends and customer needs.

Why do you think so many people are stuck on expensive PAYG plans when there are so many cheap alternatives available now? What’s the main thing holding people back from switching?

The answer to your question lies in the human psychology area and I think can be summed up in a few simple but powerful words like: loyalty, ease of use, convenience.

What matters: price over quality? Why do people choose a more expensive provider when they can switch to a new cheaper one? We think customers are the key, they lead the way, their behavior leads providers to new products, services and ways to do and conduct business. What is 100% true is that a happy customer is a loyal customer.

So the word “stuck” can actually be easily replaced with “happy”.

Still, we think more and more people would be eager to try something new if they’d realize the savings on the long run, or if they’d know that portability is risk-free and it is backed up by OFCOM.

That’s a good way of looking at it! And human psychology is definitely a big part. But where do you see the network in five years?

Our five-year plan definitely revolves around the word: international expansion. By the end of this year, we’ll launch tello on the US market so our focus and attention is channeled towards this project.

Thanks for your time, Silvana and good luck with the new venture!

Continue Reading

tello is the latest newcomer to the MVNO party in the UK having launched at the end of October last year. It’s formed through a partnership between KeepCalling and x‑Mobility.

KeepCalling is a US telecoms company with offices in Romania and Bolivia. It started off small back in 2002 reselling phone cards before expanding into monthly mobile plans and international virtual numbers. It now runs over 70 websites turns over about £30 million in yearly profits.

x‑Mobility is a Mobile Virtual Network Aggregator. Basically, what this means is it acts as an intermediary between Three Mobile and the various virtual networks than run on its service.

We got together with their Managing Director, Silvana Tatu to ask a few questions about the new network.

Hi Silvana, thanks for chatting with us. First of all can you explain a little more about the genesis of the company and the ideas behind it?

tello is a brand designed by KeepCalling, a telecom company based in the US, Atlanta who’s been in the telecom business since 2002. From the beginning, KeepCalling’s mission has been to bring family and friends closer together and offer them affordable means of communication.

In 2014, KeepCalling created tello having the same goal in mind: offer a clean, high quality mobile service for UK users with a fair and simple billing mechanism. And top of that, tello was designed as a solution to cover long distance calling needs for expats in the UK, businessmen, or any other person living in the UK who needs a SIM to call abroad, make local calls and surf the web.

And can you tell us a bit about the management team and their background?

KeepCalling’s management team is represented by a group of young and ambitious specialists who gathered a wide experience in the telecom market. The knowledge acquired while doing business in the US for the past 13 years was a very useful prerequisite when deciding to expand our business to the UK.

You seem to have a good understanding of the international/expat market. How are you positioning your offerings to suit these customers best and how true is it that you’re a specialist network for international mobile use?

It’s true that we cater our services and offers to meet our customers’ needs. What’s unique about us and what differentiates us from others is that we really put our customers, their traditions, their culture and language first. Customers can read, visit and buy our products from our websites in their native language. They see familiar images from their homeland, they receive customized emails based on their culture. Basically, their entire online experience from an ad they see on Google, to ordering a product on our website is customized to match their cultural background.

As far as being “a specialist network for international mobile use”, we are honored. It’s true that we have a lot of experience and that we know our customers, so I guess we could say we’re a specialist in this field.

Could you describe the brand in three words?

Friendly, fair, responsive.

Great! But who do you see as your closest competitor?

Our services are addressed to both UK citizens & expats, therefore we have a lot of competition. The UK MVNO market especially is a very competitive one, with many operators offering great deals on international and national calls, text and data. Basically, all UK current providers can be considered our competitors.

So having said that and with our common understanding that the MVNO market is incredibly saturated and competitive, what’s your one USP?

It’s true, as I mentioned before, the UK market is a very competitive one, but competition is good. It pushes your limits and makes you better than you can ever imagined.

Our USP would be “Say hello with your new tello SIM: clean, fair, no hidden fees or overcharges”

What’s the uptake been like so far? What are your growth plans and forecasts?

Even if tello is a new MVNO on the UK market, our online presence is getting stronger and stronger with every day that passes. We are currently analyzing different possibilities to expand our marketing strategy and grow our business.

Stay tuned for the second part of our Tello interview with Silvana coming next Monday…

Continue Reading