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How to choose an MVNE partner: the questions to ask

Seven tests for choosing an MVNE: host network access, BSS and data ownership, eSIM and SM-DP+, porting, pricing, SLAs and exit terms. The questions to ask, and what a good answer sounds like.

Michael Moorfield

Co-founder · Platform & Apps

21 September 20266 min read
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An MVNE (mobile virtual network enabler) runs the systems between a host network and your MVNO. You will live with the choice for years, so put every shortlisted MVNE through the same seven tests before you sign.

Your subscribers

Your brand

StorefrontAppsPlans and pricing

The MVNE

Tests 2 to 7

BSS and billingeSIM (SM-DP+)Number portingProvisioningSupport tools

Host networks

Test 1

Network A Network B, optional
Where an MVNE sits. The first test is about the network underneath it; the other six are about the layer it runs for you.

The checklist

Seven tests for every MVNE on your shortlist

  1. 01Network accessWhose wholesale agreement, on which networks.
  2. 02BSS and dataWho controls the product and the records.
  3. 03eSIM and SM-DP+What keeps activations running in an outage.
  4. 04Number portingAutomated, visible, on the regulator’s clock.
  5. 05PricingWhat each fee costs at ten times your volume.
  6. 06SLAs and supportA commitment per service, with credits.
  7. 07Exit termsWhether you could ever move your subscribers.

1. Network access and the host network

The network decides your coverage and your wholesale cost. Just as important is whose name is on the wholesale agreement, because that decides who keeps the margin.

Ask every vendor

  1. 01Which host networks are you integrated with, in which markets, carrying live traffic today?
  2. 02Is the wholesale agreement signed by us or by you? Who is the operator of record?
  3. 03Can we add or move networks without reissuing SIMs to existing subscribers?
  4. 04Which services are live on each: voice, SMS, data, 5G, VoLTE and roaming?

Good answer

Named networks and markets, your own wholesale agreement or theirs as your choice, and a new network added as configuration rather than a project.

2. Who owns the BSS and the data

The BSS holds your plans, prices, invoices and every subscriber record. Whoever controls it controls how fast you can change the product.

Ask every vendor

  1. 01Is the BSS a dedicated instance for us, or a shared multi-tenant system?
  2. 02Where is subscriber data stored, and who is the data controller?
  3. 03Can we export full customer, billing and usage history at any time, at no charge?
  4. 04Can our team change plans and prices directly, or through a request queue?

Good answer

A live demo of a price change, from the edit to the first invoice that carries it, made by your team without a ticket.

3. eSIM and SM-DP+ handling

The SM-DP+ is the server that prepares and delivers eSIM profiles. It sits on the critical path of every eSIM activation, so its resilience is your resilience.

Ask every vendor

  1. 01Which SM-DP+ platforms do you connect to, and who holds each contract?
  2. 02Who owns the eSIM profile inventory, and can it move if we change SM-DP+?
  3. 03What happens to new orders when an SM-DP+ is down?
  4. 04How do customers install a profile: QR code, in-app, or both?

Good answer

More than one SM-DP+ connected, with new orders routed to a second one during an outage. We covered why in When eSIM platforms go bad.

4. Number porting

Porting decides whether customers can bring their number with them. In the UK they expect it to move within one working day.

Ask every vendor

  1. 01Are port-in and port-out automated in every market we plan to serve?
  2. 02Who runs the regulated porting process and meets its deadlines?
  3. 03How are failed ports surfaced to our team, and who resolves them with the host network?

Good answer

A porting queue you can see in the admin tools, with every port’s status and every failure flagged to your team.

5. Pricing models

MVNE pricing combines a few fee types, and each grows differently as you add subscribers. Model them at your launch volume and at ten times that.

  • Flat platform fee
  • Per-subscriber fee
  • Revenue share
How MVNE fee types grow with subscribersA flat platform fee stays level as subscribers grow. A per-subscriber fee rises steadily. A revenue share rises too, and grows with your revenue as well as your subscriber count.Launch10× launchActive subscribersMonthly costFlat platform feePer-subscriber feeRevenue share
How each fee type grows with your subscriber base. Schematic, not to scale: plot your own quotes on the same axes.

Ask every vendor

  1. 01Which of these fees apply to us: setup, platform, per-subscriber, revenue share, connectivity margin?
  2. 02Is there a minimum commitment, and how long is the term?
  3. 03What does a change request cost, and how long does one take?

Good answer

Every fee written down, modelled at ten times your launch volume, with no share of subscriber revenue unless you have priced it in.

6. SLAs and support

One platform uptime figure tells you little. Your customers feel activation, billing, porting and top-ups separately, so ask for a commitment on each.

Ask every vendor

  1. 01What uptime SLA applies to activation, billing, porting and the APIs, and how is it measured?
  2. 02What service credits apply when an SLA is missed?
  3. 03What are the support hours and response times? Is 24x7 cover available?
  4. 04During a network incident, who talks to the host network?

Good answer

Per-service SLAs with service credits, and the last twelve months of incident history shared before you sign.

7. Exit terms

Exit terms decide whether you could ever move your subscribers, and so how much leverage you keep at every renewal.

Read the exit terms before the commercials.

Ask every vendor

  1. 01What is the notice period, and does the contract renew automatically?
  2. 02What data comes back on exit, in what format, and at what cost?
  3. 03Are our SIMs and eSIM profiles issued under our host agreement or yours?
  4. 04Will you run in parallel with a new platform during a migration?

Current platform

New platform

Parallel run
010203040506
  1. 01Map the current stack
  2. 02Design around your model
  3. 03Move data in parallel
  4. 04Run both side by side
  5. 05Cut over in cohorts
  6. 06Go live on the new platform
A managed migration runs both platforms side by side and moves customers in cohorts, so no subscriber sees a cutover weekend.

That is how our migration process works: we reconcile every event across both systems before a single customer moves.

When you do not need an MVNE

An MVNE fits a brand that wants its own plans, billing and customer relationship without building a core network. Other models fit other goals.

An MVNE fits when

  • You want your own plans, prices and billing.
  • You want to own the customer relationship and the data.
  • You plan to add markets, networks or channels over time.

Something lighter fits when

  • You run your own core network and BSS teamA host agreement and specific components
  • You resell a host network’s own plans, unchangedThe host’s branded reseller programme
  • You sell a few data-only travel eSIMsA wholesale eSIM API, until you add subscriptions
  • You are testing demandA time-boxed pilot with a partner

How Mindszi answers these

Mindszi is an MVNE built like a product. Use our pre-integrated carriers, or bring your own wholesale agreement and we integrate it. You stay the operator of record.

Each customer runs on a private, dedicated AWS tenant in the region they choose, and we charge a flat platform fee, never a cut of subscriber revenue. See the MVNE solution, or how brands build, run and scale their own mobile service on Launch an MVNO.

Next step

See how Mindszi would run your mobile business

See the platformTalk to us