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Open Market and MVNO Services

Recently there has been a large increase of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO), which has created competition with Mobile Network Operators (MNO) and driven down costs for end users.

Some handset manufacturers have taken advantage by selling Open Market models, which are sold directly to end users and free from carrier customisation.

Open Market handsets must be tested with a wide variety of MVNO SIM cards to ensure a good end user experience.

End users expect all supported features to work reliably, or they may choose to move to another MVNO provider and/or replace the Open Market handset with another model.

Open Market handsets are not SIM locked to the network provider, so end users can quickly change to another MVNO provider by simply inserting a different SIM card or putting a second SIM card into a dual SIM handset. All supported features must work reliably to avoid products being returned as faulty and the overall user experience must be good to ensure customers are happy and retained.

 
How the MVNO/MNO relationship works

The three core scenarios are:

  • MVNO leverages the resource from the MNO, sharing spectrum, base stations, and base station controllers.
  • MVNOs usually provide SIM cards and MSC/HLR to authenticate their users.
  • The MNO may restrict features or data speeds to differentiate their service from the cheaper MVNO.
 
How we test

Field testing is focused on checking the device under test works correctly with many different MVNO SIM cards. Test plans are carefully optimised to reduce duplication and increase test coverage, keeping costs down.

Our Live Network Testing, tailored to the customers’ requirements, comprises:

  • Key selections of MVNO operators
  • Device under test compared and assessed against a ‘known’ reference device
  • Basic functionality
  • Functionality (IOP)
  • Stability (KPI)
 
Reporting

IoTAS will provide daily reports which include any test case failures observed during field testing. The final test report will be released at the end of the project, after being reviewed. 

For more information, please call IoTAS on +44 1223 810010