What is an MNO? Mobile network operators vs MVNOs

In telecoms, MNO stands for mobile network operator: a company that holds licenses for radio spectrum and runs a mobile network on it, with its own cell sites, its own core network and its own customers. An MVNO, a mobile virtual network operator, sells mobile service without owning a radio network, by renting capacity from an MNO. The difference matters most when you buy connectivity for devices, because many IoT SIM providers are MVNOs of one kind or another, and the kind decides how many networks a device can use and who handles what when something goes wrong. This article explains what each type of operator runs, the terms around them, what a PLMN is, and what to compare between an MNO and an MVNO. (MNO has other expansions in medicine, finance and elsewhere; this article covers the telecom one.)

What a mobile network operator owns

An MNO runs the whole chain from radio to billing:

• Spectrum licenses, bought or allocated by the national regulator, which give it the right to transmit on particular frequency bands.
• The radio access network: masts, antennas and base stations, often on sites shared with other operators.
• The core network: the systems that authenticate subscribers, track where devices are, route their data to the internet and their calls to other networks. The subscriber database in it is the HLR in 2G and 3G, the HSS in 4G and the UDM in 5G.
• A network identity: a mobile country code and mobile network code pair, the PLMN ID, which appears at the start of every IMSI it issues.
• SIMs and subscriptions, interconnection with other networks, and roaming agreements with operators abroad so its customers can use their networks.
• Retail and wholesale business: selling to its own customers, and selling capacity to MVNOs.

Every country has a small number of MNOs, because spectrum is limited and a national network costs a great deal to build.

What an MVNO is

An MVNO sells mobile service under its own brand while the radio network belongs to an MNO, called its host. The two have a wholesale agreement setting out what the MVNO may sell and on what terms. How much of the rest the MVNO runs varies, and the industry uses a few loose labels for the range.

A light MVNO, also called a branded reseller, sells the host’s service under its own name. The SIMs, numbers and network are the host’s, and the MVNO handles marketing, pricing and customer service.

A full MVNO runs its own core network, including its own subscriber database, and issues its own SIMs. Usually it has its own network code, so its IMSIs start with its own PLMN ID. That gives it control over the SIM, the services and the data path, and lets it make wholesale or roaming agreements with several MNOs, so one of its SIMs can use many networks. Most IoT connectivity providers that offer a single SIM for many countries work this way.

Between the two sit various partial arrangements, often called service-provider MVNOs, that run some systems and rent others.

Two related terms turn up in contracts. An MVNE, mobile virtual network enabler, supplies the technical systems, such as core network, billing and provisioning, that an MVNO would otherwise have to build; many MVNOs run on one. An MVNA, mobile virtual network aggregator, buys capacity in bulk from MNOs and resells it to smaller MVNOs.

PLMN: the network’s identity

PLMN means public land mobile network: one operator’s mobile network in one country. Each is identified by its PLMN ID, the mobile country code and mobile network code together, which also form the first digits of every IMSI it issues. The IMSI article breaks the number down.

From a device’s point of view, the home PLMN is the network its SIM belongs to and the visited PLMN is any other network it uses by roaming. When a device attaches to a visited network, that network reads the PLMN ID from the device’s identity, finds the home network, and asks it to authenticate the SIM. Roaming agreements between the two decide whether that is allowed and on what terms. Devices also keep lists of preferred and forbidden networks, which providers use to steer them onto particular partners.

You can see this on a cellular module: AT+COPS? reports the network the module is registered on, and AT+CIMI returns the IMSI, whose first five or six digits name the home network. Comparing the two tells you whether a device is at home or roaming.

How an MVNO’s IoT SIM reaches several networks

A full MVNO serving IoT customers usually connects its core network to many MNOs around the world through roaming agreements. Its SIM roams onto a local MNO’s radio network in each country, while the authentication and, typically, the data path run back through the MVNO’s own core.

Routing data home has a cost in latency, since a device in one country may send every packet through a gateway in another. Some providers place gateways in several regions or break traffic out locally to reduce it; it is worth asking where the gateways are if response time matters.

MNO or MVNO for IoT connectivity

Neither is better in general. They suit different fleets, and the questions below sort out which fits yours. Pricing models vary too much between providers and contracts to compare here, so ask each for a quote on the same usage profile.

Where will the devices be? A fleet in one country with good coverage from one network can do well with that MNO directly. A fleet spread across countries, or in places where coverage varies by operator, usually needs a SIM that can use several networks, which is what multi-network MVNOs are built for. The IoT SIM card guide covers roaming, multi-IMSI and eSIM approaches.

Will they stay abroad permanently? Roaming agreements were written for travelers, and some countries and operators restrict devices that roam permanently. Ask any provider, MNO or MVNO, how its SIMs are treated in each target country over the life of the product, and whether it can switch to a local profile if rules change.

Which radio technologies do you need? NB-IoT and LTE-M roaming is less widely available than ordinary LTE roaming, and support varies by operator and country. The NB-IoT and LTE-M comparison covers the technologies; check each provider’s list for the exact networks and technologies in each country.

How will you manage the fleet? Providers selling to IoT customers typically offer a management platform and an API for activating, suspending and monitoring SIMs, with usage alerts and diagnostics per device. Compare what each exposes, since that is what your operations team will use every day.

Who fixes problems? With an MVNO, a fault can sit in the MVNO’s core, the visited MNO’s radio network, or the link between them. Ask how support is organized and what visibility the provider has into the visited networks’ side.

How locked in will you be? A plain SIM ties a device to one provider’s profile. An eSIM that can take another provider’s profile, under the M2M or IoT specifications, keeps the option to move later without visiting the devices.