While we wait to find out the outcome of the Mobilicity auction, another player now appears ready to enter Canada’s wireless market. Lycamobile, a company that provides low-cost international calls to over 30 million customers across 17 countries is looking to launch operations in Canada as a MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) in the near future. As such, it will not need to buy its own spectrum but will instead lease capacity on a partner’s network.
According to a reference on their website (which I could not find), Group Chairman Subaskaran Allirajah would like to be operating in Canada “by February 2014.”
There is no word yet on which Canadian carrier Lycamobile is planning to partner with to offer its wireless services. The company has also not announced where it plans to operate in Canada but you can expect it to target major urban centers such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver to start.
Based on its history, Lycamobile will aim its products and services at budget-conscious customers including immigrants and other ethnic consumers who still have family in their home countries. Discount long-distance calling rates will be part of the services it offers. It is unlikely to offer handsets, relying instead on customers bringing their own and simply selling them a SIM to use its network.
Lycamobile may already be familiar to many Canadians. While a distinct company, it is related to the Lycatel Group of companies which already operates in Canada. Lycatel offers a prepaid phone card service with low-cost long-distance rates to countries such as Bangladesh and India under the brand Lycatalk.
Sources : Lycamobile // MobileSyrup