MVNO and related technology glossary
Help Navigating the mobile virtual network tech-speak soup
A table of terms, acronyms and abbreviations used in this site and other sites in this series, which may be of use when reading this and related sites.
| 2G | 2nd Generation Mobile Networks: circuit switched voice and data |
| 2.5G | Evolution of 2G to give packet data in the shape of GPRS and later EDGE |
| 3G | 3rd Generation Mobile Networks, syncronised voice and video |
| 3.5G | Evolution of 3G UMTS in the shape of HSDPA, finally giving the 3G speeds often promised |
| 4G 5G | 4th Generation Networks; another evolution of mobile and wireless to fixed internet speeds: Requires slightly different architecture (evolved HLR, MSC, GGSN into HSS, IMS and PG-W) 5G is 5th Generation mobile, reusing some of the 2G, 3G bands as well as some other spectrum like old TV and Radio wavelengths and those used for backhaul like the 3.5Ghz and 26Ghz old microwave links otherwise known as Fixed Wireless Access 3.5Ghz and 26Ghz bands to create faster data still. |
802.11a,b,g,n & y | WLAN or Wi-FI standard with letters being evolutions thereof; currently pre-n |
| 802.16d,e & y | Essentially WiMAX and evolutions thereof |
| APN | Access Point Name; name or address in GPRS access: e.g wap.orange.net "Orange WAP" |
| ADSL | Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line: broadband |
| ARPU | Average Revenue per User; Longer term KPI for mobile networks, the key metric on which and MVNO is judged after Subscriber Acquisition Cost (SAC) |
| BAN | Body Area Network: e.g a bluetooth heart-rate monitor and GPS connected to your phone |
| BSC/RNC | Base Station or Radio Network Controller |
| BSS | Billing Support Systems |
| CAGR | Compound Annual Growth Rate |
| CAPEX | Capital Expenditure |
| CDMA | Code Division Multiple Access |
| CDR | Customer Data Record: a data file with billing data for each voice or data transaction |
| CFG | Charging Gateway Function |
| CLEC Cloud MVNO/E | Competitive Local Exchange Carrier MVNO/E infrastructure installed on cloud (bare metal cloud) based infrastructure |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management |
| DECT | Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (European cordless phone standard) |
| DMSP | Discount Mobile Service Provider |
| DSL | Digital Subscriber Line |
| DVB-H (-T, -C, -S) | Digital Video Broadband for Handhelds (-Terrestrial, -Cable, -Satellite) |
| EBPP | Electronic Bill Presentation and Payment |
| EDGE | Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution |
| EIR eSIM | Equipment Identity Register: database in mobile network of IMEIs Embedded SIM that is directly on the board of the phone or other device, rather than a SIM slot and a SIM inserted or removed. Configured over the air via SM-SR(+) or SMDP(+) |
| ESPs | Enhanced Service Providers |
| EU / EC | European Union and the European Commission, reference here as they have been critical in pushing down roaming fees across European borders, making way for the wider "roam like at home" type services we now have. |
| EVDO | Evolution Data Only (CDMA) |
| OFDM | Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing |
| FMC 4FF, 3FF, 2FF | Fixed-Mobile Convergence Sim card sizes: 4FF being nano-SIM (iphone5, etc) 3FF being micro-SIM (iPhone4) 2FF is original mini-SIM (iphone2,3, etc) |
| P-GW/ GGSN | Packet Gateway GPRS Support Node, will need as a Full MVNO, ESP usually MNO hosts this and the SGSN obviously. In Full MVNO, MNO host still has SGSN. |
| GPRS | General Packet Radio Service, genereal term for 2G and beyond packet switched rather than circuit switched data in MVNO contracts especially |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| GSM | Global System for Mobile Communications, the de facto mobile standard, rival CDMA did not really take-off and in countries with both services, wholesale prices for GSM are higher, CDMA cheaper |
| HSS / HLR | Home Location Register, originally Ofcom decided an MVNO needs / should have one, however this was really unfounded and an HLR, although just a database, is a complex peice of equipment that an MNO is generally better running for the MVNO |
| HSCSD | High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data |
| HSDPA | High-Speed Downlink Packet Access |
| ICT | Information and Communication Technologies |
| iDEN | Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (Motorola variant of TDMA wireless) |
| IMEI | International Equipment Identity; serial number for mobile phones, registered in EIR on HLR |
| IMS | IP Multimedia Subsystem, how 4G advanced services will eventually be managed (edit: are now managed!) |
| IMSI | International Mobile Subscriber Identity; SIM card Network specific ID |
| IM | Instant Messaging |
| IOT (Clearing) IoT (M2M) | Inter-operator Tariff, what operators agree to settle to each other for roaming, generally dependent on volume, they can be billateral or unilateral if you have no traffic to return. Internet of Things, often confused for just thing on the internet :) New name for M2M basically connecting devices that need to send and receive mobile data. |
| IP | Internet Protocol |
| IPDC | IP Datacasting |
| ISDN | Integrated Services Digital Network |
| ISP | Internet Service Provider |
| KPI | Key Performance Indicator |
| LAN LTE | Local Area Network Long Term Evolution (post 3G Definition that was supposed to replace the continuous 4G, 5G, 6G... but the latter sells handsets better so xG it is ...) |
| M2M | Machine to Machine; Telemerty, monitoring vehicles, containers, vending machines, electricity meters, etc. via the mobile network |
| MMS | Multimedia Messaging, and SMS with an image/video attached |
| MNO | Mobile Network Operator |
| MSC | Mobile Switching Center, the main "switch" in a mobile network |
| MSP | Mobile Service Provider |
| MVNA | Mobile Virtual Network Aggregator, resells its own MVNO agreement |
| MVNE | Mobile Virtual Network Enabler, resells its MNO-MVNO agreement |
| MVNO | Mobile Virtual Network Operator, has an agreement to sell its MVNO agreement |
| NFC | Near Field Communication; short range radio ID, mostly used for payment services in MVNOs |
| NRA | National Regulatory Authority |
| OEM | Original Equipment Manufacturer |
| ODP | On Device Portal; mobile application for managing access to information and services |
| ODMs | Original Device Manufacturers |
| OMA | Open Mobile Alliance |
| OPEX | Operating Expenditure |
| OSS | Operational Support System |
| PDA | Personal Digital Assistant |
| PIM | Personal Information Management (calendar, contacts, notes, reminders, etc) |
| P2P | Peer to Peer; transmission from client to client (rather than client server client, client to server) |
| PoS | Point of Sale; equipment used to charge a customer at a physical point of sale |
| PPM | Price per Minute |
| PSTN | Public Switched Telephone Network |
| PTT | Push to Talk; usually assumes Nextel pioneered model, using another radio frequency |
| PTToC, PoC, P2C | Push to Talk over Cellular: PTT using celular as opposed to other radio network |
| PVR | Personal Video Recorder (device that schedules and records video, usually TV) |
| QoS | Quality of Service; essential for delivery voice over internet and/or realtime applications |
| RFID | Radio Frequency ID (Identification) |
| ROI | Return on Investment |
| SAC | Subscriber Acquisition Costs, the cost of getting a user on your network - if you do not know this, and why you can do cheaper than your MNO for your chosen market, your meeting is likely to be rather short! basically equal cost of sale: Physical SIM, SIM pack, commissions, distribution costs, etc. |
| SGSN | Serving GPRS Support Node, the main mobile data "box" in the MNO network |
| SIM | Subscriber Identity Module, used to authenticate users in GSM networks; presently mini-SIM (2FF/iPhone 3), micro-SIM (3FF/Iphone4), nano-SIM (4FF /iPhone5) |
| SI | Systems Integrator: who will plug together your full MVNO |
| SIP | Session Initiation Protocol |
| SLA SMDP(+) | Service Level Agreement Subscription Manager Data Preparation: A method of sending eSIM configurations used for eSIMs in devices mostly managed by humans (phones, tablets, etc) |
| SME | Small to Medium Enterprise |
| SMP | Significant Market Power |
| SMS SM-SR(+) | Short Messaging Service; text messaging Subscription Manager - Secure Routing: a Method of adding a SIM profile to an eSIM, used mostly for IoT / M2M devices without human interaction needed. |
| SOHO | Small Office, Home Office; customer segmentation grouping, smaller than SME |
| SP | Service Providers, people who sold mobile connections in the pre MVNO days |
| TSP | Telematics Service Provider |
| UMA | Unlicensed Mobile Access |
| UMTS | Universal Mobile Telecommunications System |
| UWB | Ultra Wide Band; short range data standard to be incorporated into Bluetooth |
| VoIP | Voice over Internet Protocol |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network |
| WAP | Wireless Application Protocol |
| WCDMA | Wideband Code Division Multiple Access |
| Wibree | Low powershort range data standard to be incorporated into Bluetooth |
| WiMAX | Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access; often assciated with WMAN |
| WLAN, Wi-Fi | Wireless Local Area Network; also Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) |
| WMAN | Wireless Metropolitan Area Network |
| WWAN | Wireless Wide Area Network |
| YE | Year End |
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