Bluehouse Tech Launch Solution to Help UK Broadband Altnets Launch MVNO

Software development firm Bluehouse Technology has launched a new product, which is designed to make it much easier for alternative UK broadband providers to launch their own white-label style virtual eSIM based mobile (MVNO) network service – enabling them reach to customers beyond their physical fibre footprints.

We only rarely write about this side of the market (products targeted specifically at ISPs/altnets), but this one does offer more details than usual, which some consumers might also find interesting for background. The Bluehouse MVNO solution promises that ISPs will be able to “retain a substantial 60% share of net revenue” from their service, which is said to include various features (e.g. full Ofcom compliance, number porting, a hosted web portal, and an integrated travel eSIM service to enhance the customer proposition etc.).

The solution includes example retail offers — ranging from 10GB to unlimited data — that are said to be “benchmarked to be cheaper than all major UK operators, all on flexible rolling 30-day contracts“. But the actual end-user pricing would of course depend upon what the retail ISP chooses to charge.

The proposition itself is said to focus on a low-cost, low-risk model. The set-up fees are limited to a web portal fee of several thousand pounds and a monthly platform fee of several hundred pounds. Bluehouse promises that providers can go live with their own branded mobile service through this within just 6-8 weeks. The suggestion appears to be that an ISP using this could achieve a Year 1 break-even with as few as 350 subscribers and tickover thereafter of around 150 subs.

Chandru Mullaparthi, CEO of Bluehouse Technology, told ISPreview:

“We don’t just write code; we build software that businesses stake their operations on. Our MVNO solution is building on the success of our whitelabel products in the travel eSIM market and reflects this responsibility, providing Alt-Nets with a reliable, managed, and hosted platform that delivers immediate value to their business and their customers”.

One potential issue here is that eSIM providers have become extremely common over the past couple of years, so much so that we half expect the local pub to start offering its own eSIM at some point. The catch is that this does make for quite a crowded and increasingly confusing market.

At the same time many Altnets are already struggling with issues of weak brand familiarity and reputation (partly driven by uncertainty around consolidation), so it remains debatable whether adding a mobile service on top of that is going to be much of a goose to lay the golden egg.