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Welcome To The Luxury MVNO, That Will Be $1500
from the that-costs-extra dept
We saw a story this morning about how a Japanese mobile content company planned to launch a US MVNO and thought it was slightly interesting that a Japanese mobile company would start one here. But RCR News missed the real meat of the story: the MVNO, called Voce, is a "luxury MVNO" that charges a $1500 sign-up fee and $500 per month. In exchange for that, the rich and famous in LA and New York will get unlimited voice and data usage, as well as new exclusive handsets every four months. Several companies have attempted to make luxury mobile handsets, with mixed success. But luxury mobile service? That's a hard concept to figure out, though, like so many other high-ticket items, the mere air of exclusivity brought about by the price might make it a must-have item for the upper class set. And, if nothing else, Mobile ESPN's not the most expensive MVNO any more.
Reader Comments
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No Subject Given
As personally distasteful as I find these sorts of wasteful 'prestige' items, they do serve a very valid function... They get money out of the hands of the stupid rich*, and back into the economy.
*Mostly referring to actors, actresses, and athletes, with a nod to heiresses.
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No Subject Given
Okay techdirt, you got me. What the fuck is an MVNO?
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Re: No Subject Given
MVNO: Mobile Virtual Network Operator
A mobile operator that doesn't own its own network, but simply uses someone else's network.
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ACRONYMS
oh I love it when you dont tell us what the hell MVNO is supposed to mean.
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Re: ACRONYMS
At this point, we've written about MVNOs enough, that it seems fairly redundant to write out what it means every time. Also, I did define it right above your comment, so I'm not sure the reason for your complaint.
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Re: ACRONYMS
Personally Mike, as a daily reader, its not so much the acronym as much as what the heck a Mobile Virtual Network Operator actually does? A cellular reseller with integrated customized services?
I'm looking around for a definition myself...most articles I'm googling right now seem to just assume I know what the heck that is.
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Re: ACRONYMS
Er. Again, I wrote above: it's a mobile operator who doesn't own their own network but uses someone else's. So, Virgn Mobile is a mobile operator, but they're actually using Sprint's network. Virgin Mobile is an MVNO. We've explained it in the past multiple times, so it gets quite repetitive to explain it every time.
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Re: ACRONYMS
I scan techdirt almost daily and didn't know what MVNO meant, either. Perhaps this will change eventually, but I don't think MVNO is in the same category as acronyms like VOIP that are obvious to everyone.
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Re: ACRONYMS
Perhaps a glossary of some sort? Although, admittedly, Google would work as well. (Especially in this case, as the first 2 google entries when searching for 'mvno' are definitions.)
But still, surely you have enough free time to make a glossary for the searching-impaired. :)
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Re: ACRONYMS
I think it's worth assuming that people visiting this site have either a basic understanding of the tech world or, at worst, a basic understanding of how to use Google.
I don't come here for definitions. If there's something I don't understand, I look it up.
This isn't kindergarten, it's a news site.
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MVNO
I've been reading Techdirt every day for months, and I had no idea what the term MVNO meant. Just one more data point for you.
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A little more info on Voce
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