October 9th 2019

Tutela, an independent crowdsourced data company, today released its latest report on the US Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) landscape. The report delivers insight from Tutela’s data across a range of MVNO topics, including a comparison of network performance, an examination of the impact of Wi-Fi offloading and different host networks, and analysis of the different market footprints for some of the different brands. 

Key findings from the report include:

• MVNOs running on the Verizon network offered some of the best mobile network experiences overall when looking at Excellent Consistent Quality, Tutela’s metric for how often a network met the thresholds required for HD video streaming, group video calls and other highly-intensive activity. Among MVNOs, Xfinity Mobile had the highest Excellent Consistent Quality (78.9%), while Spectrum came in third at 72.6%
  
  
• Google Fi’s second-place finish for Excellent Consistent Quality (78.0%) indicates the potential of multi-operators MVNOs to offer reliable, high-quality performance. The MVNO outperformed both Metro and Boost, the prepaid brands of host networks T-Mobile and Sprint respectively, with a substantial margin. Google’s selection of the best network available at a user’s location, switching between Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular, looks promising for delivering the best network experience possible
  
  
• Xfinity’s success in offloading cellular traffic onto Wi-Fi (approximately 6% of total Xfinity Mobile smartphone data traffic, according to Tutela’s users) demonstrates the long-term financial benefits of cable companies as MVNOs, and could be a promising indication of success for Altice, given its newly-launched MVNO business that utilizes a Wi-Fi network that is both fast and more dense than other cable company MVNOs like Spectrum

“The role of MVNOs in the US market is critical for meeting the needs of even highly specific segments of the population,” commented Tom Luke, VP at Tutela. “While traditionally this has focused on the needs of lower-income customers, our results show that some of the premium MVNOs are able to offer a user experience that is highly comparable to that of their host network, while the entry of newer players like Altice to the market is creating a dynamic mix of approaches that will lead to a greater range of options for consumers, as well as increasingly competitive services. As the range of MVNOs available continues to broaden, it’s never been more important for both mobile network operators, their flanker brands and MVNOs to ensure that their networks are designed, provisioned and maintained in a way that continues to meet and exceed the needs of their customers.”

The full report is available online here.