Airtel Africa wins at MVNO Industry World Congress

This comes a year after the operator announced its strategic decision to move into MVNO business and host Mobile Virtual Network Operators, (MVNOs), on its Kenyan Network.

In September 2014, Airtel's first ever MVNO in partnership with Equity Bank, the leader in Mass and SMB Banking in Kenya went live on its Kenyan network. The MVNO allows the bank customers to access all their banking products and services - credit, savings, insurance, payments, transaction processing, brokerage, custodial and investment services - through the mobile device and channel while enjoying their GSM services on the same SIM card, simplifying the life of the consumer while creating a 'cash lite' economy.

The MNVO, trading as "Equitel", has in about six months of operations grown its MVNO customer base to over 600,000 subscribers, over 70% of these actively using both the mobile and financial services offered by the MVNO.

The Equity Bank MVNO partnership is rolling out a new paper-thin SIM card that is affixed on the primary traditional SIM card, potentially converting each handset into a 'dual' SIM handset and eliminating the need to purchase a new handset. This ultimately lowers the barrier to entry for the budget constrained consumer and low-income segment while fulfilling their need for mobile and financial services.