{"id":80417,"date":"2013-06-17T22:51:57","date_gmt":"2013-06-17T20:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=80417"},"modified":"2013-06-18T11:36:47","modified_gmt":"2013-06-18T09:36:47","slug":"fnb-plans-to-launch-mobile-operator-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/80417-fnb-plans-to-launch-mobile-operator-sources.html","title":{"rendered":"FNB plans to launch mobile operator: sources"},"content":{"rendered":"

Industry speculation suggests that FNB<\/a> is in discussions with Cell C<\/a> to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), with the aim of offering a range of mobile products to its banking customers.<\/p>\n

Two independent sources have informed MyBroadband that FNB and Cell C are in discussions about an MVNO agreement, and that a positive outcome is likely.<\/p>\n

If FNB becomes an MVNO, as the rumours suggest, it will join Virgin Mobile in offering cellular services using its own SIM cards and Cell C\u2019s network.<\/p>\n

FNB is already offering its banking clients discounted mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones, and by becoming an MVNO it can ship these devices with its own FNB SIMs.<\/p>\n

An MVNO agreement can also help the bank to benefit further from its position as one of the biggest airtime distributors and bulk SMS users in South Africa.<\/p>\n

FNB and Cell C comment on MVNO rumours<\/h3>\n

Virginia Magapatona<\/a>, head of corporate communications at FNB, sidestepped questions about the bank\u2019s MVNO ambitions and the rumoured discussions with Cell C.<\/p>\n

Magapatona did, however, hint that FNB is planning more mobile products. \u201cWe continue to hold discussions with various operators on various matters and will only be in a position to formally announce any new features once launched,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cell C\u2019s executive head of communications, Karin Fourie<\/a> said that the operator is currently in talks with various potential MVNOs.<\/p>\n

However, because these talks are confidential, Fourie said that Cell C cannot provide any specifics about potential MVNO deals.<\/p>\n

More on MVNOs, Cell C and FNB<\/h3>\n

Cell C to sign another virtual operator agreement<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Orange wants to take on MTN, Vodacom, Cell C and Telkom Mobile<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Virgin Mobile CEO slates Vodacom, MTN in report<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Virgin Mobile SA to close 30 of 38 stores<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Industry speculation suggests that FNB is in discussions with Cell C to become a mobile virtual network operator, and launch services competing against Vodacom, MTN and Telkom Mobile<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10106,14],"tags":[355,1313,35,1439,42,19931,41],"class_list":["post-80417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","category-cellular","tag-cell-c","tag-fnb","tag-headline","tag-karin-fourie","tag-mtn","tag-virginia-magapatona","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80459,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80417\/revisions\/80459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}