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.
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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2005 @ 1:53pm

    A little more info on Voce

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2005 @ 2:18pm

    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.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2005 @ 5:02pm

    No Subject Given

    Okay techdirt, you got me. What the fuck is an MVNO?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike (profile), 14 Nov 2005 @ 6:33pm

      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.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Kingmanor, 14 Nov 2005 @ 11:49pm

    ACRONYMS

    oh I love it when you dont tell us what the hell MVNO is supposed to mean.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike (profile), 15 Nov 2005 @ 12:30am

      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.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        thecaptain, 15 Nov 2005 @ 4:58am

        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.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Mike (profile), 15 Nov 2005 @ 8:47am

          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.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Ed, 15 Nov 2005 @ 9:10am

            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.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Alex, 15 Nov 2005 @ 9:10am

            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. :)

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              John, 15 Nov 2005 @ 9:23am

              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.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Joel, 15 Nov 2005 @ 9:42am

    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.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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