Transatel
 | This articlecontains content that is written likean advertisement.(August 2019) |
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| Company type | NTTGroup subsidiary, viaNTT Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet of Things,Mobile,Telecommunication |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Bertrand Salomon Jacques Bonifay  |
| Headquarters | 49-51 Quai de Dion Bouton, 92806PuteauxCedex,La Défense,France |
Key people | Jacques Bonifay, founder & CEO, Bertrand Salomon, co-founder & Deputy CEO |
| Products | MVNO,MVNE,MVNA,Machine to machine,Internet of Things |
Number of employees | 220 (2019) |
| Website | transatel |
Transatelis atelecomcorporation headquartered inParis,La Défense,and led by the founders Jacques Bonifay (CEO) and Bertrand Salomon (Deputy CEO).NTT Communicationstook a majority stake in the company[1]on 28 February 2019, transferred toNTT Ltd.on 1 July 2019.
Overview
[edit]Founded in 2000,Transatelprovides cellular mobile services as amobile virtual network enabler(MVNE/A) and provider (MVNO)[2]through its Ubigi brand. The company operates globally with acloud-basedtechnical infrastructure in France, theUK,[3]and theUS.[4]
Transatel is active in three main market segments:
- Mobile telephonysince 2000, as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator),[5]MVNE (enabler), or MVNA (aggregator)
- Machine to Machine(M2M) connectivity, since 2011[6]
- TheInternet of Things(IoT) since 2014, with a focus on cellular embedded connectivity for consumer devices[7]
The company is profitable, with 70% of revenues generated outside of France.
Management
[edit]Jacques Bonifay
[edit]CEO and founder of Transatel, is head of the company's general management, as well as shareholder relationships.
In November 2009, Bonifay became president of Alternative Mobile, the French MVNO association made up of the country's largest MVNOs, where he leads the association's interests in relation to the French government and telecom regulatory authorities.[8]
Bonifay was elected president of EAFM, the European Association of Full MVNOs in October 2012. Now renamed MVNO Europe, the group includes major European operators, such asLiberty Global,Telenet, PosteMobile, Cyta Hellas, Voiceworks, and El Telecom (NRJ Mobile). Jacques guides their European lobbying efforts.[9] Before founding Transatel, Bonifay had a career in the space industry atAirbus,and afterwards as a consultant for McKinsey & Co. at the Paris office. Jacques later headed Strategy and Business Development for the Professional and Consumer Division of Alcatel, where he initiated new businesses based on fixed mobile convergence and e-commerce with several operators.
Jacques holds an MBA degree fromINSEADand an engineering degree fromENSERG/INPG (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Electronique et de Radioélectricité de Grenoble).[citation needed]
Bertrand Salomon
[edit]Bertrand Salomon leads the design of the MVNE platform and the product development roadmap.
He also manages Transatel's relationships with mobile network operators worldwide, as well as the delivery of customized solutions[buzzword]for MVNO or Machine-to-Machine customers. Prior to founding Transatel, Salomon was atBouygues Telecom France,first as the Manager for New Products and Services, then as Director of the Mobile Internet activity. Before that, he worked for Sagem France, in technical development and project management.
Salomon holds an engineering degree from the Polytechnic School of Lausanne (Switzerland), and an MBA degree from INSEAD (France)1[citation needed]
Activities
[edit]Transatel enables mobile services (BtoB) as an MVNE/A or M2M enabler, and provides mobile services (BtoC) through its own MVNOs.
Enabler of mobile services: BtoB activities
[edit]MVNE
[edit]In Europe, Transatel enables access to the following MNO networks for voice, SMS and data services
- Orange France– France
- EE(formerly T-Mobile UK and Orange UK) – United Kingdom[10]
- Salt (formerly Orange CH) – Switzerland[11]
- Mobistar(Orange) – Belgium
- Tango– Luxembourg
In addition, Transatel delivers added value services around provisioning, prepaid and post-paid billing, as well as fixed-mobile convergence.
The enabler activity follows two different business models, according to clients' needs: the pure enabler model (MVNE) and the aggregator model (MVNA) for companies wishing to launch and monetize a mobile offer under their brand, be it prepaid or post-paid.
When an MVNO wishes to purchase airtime directly from aMobile Network Operator(MNO), Transatel acts as the MVNE (MVNO enabler)—the technical provider servicing either the MNO or the MVNO.
Transatel's MVNE references include:
- Life Mobile
- Post Office Mobile
- Now Mobile
- Colruyt Mobile orOrtel
MVNA
[edit]As an MVNA, (MVNO Aggregator) Transatel purchases mobile airtime in bulk from a partner mobile operator, adding the value of its service platform, and wholesales this airtime to multiple MVNOs. Each MVNO in turn sells the mobile service to consumers or companies. The MVNA activity is concentrated in Europe, particularly France, the UK and Switzerland.
Major clients includeThe People's Operator(TPO), China Telecom Europe, Sewan, Paritel andNetcom.
Machine to Machine connectivity
[edit]In 2011, Transatel entered theMachine to machine(M2M) arena, using its existing MVNE infrastructure across Europe to provide M2M services along similar business models. Transatel enables M2M players to include airtime connectivity to their services, as well as a range of applications, such as fleet and asset tracking, vehicletelematics,smart metering,entertainment,telehealth.
Today, Transatel manages over 1 million SIM cards related to its M2M activity.[12]Its largest client isEEin the UK.
Internet of Things
[edit]To date, Transatel has signed agreements with three of the top ten worldwide laptop/tablet OEMs, with commercial soft launches planned in Q1 2016 withWindows 10,[13]targeting the consumer and SME segments.[14]
Provider of mobile services: BtoC activities
[edit]MVNO
[edit]Precursor to theEurotariff,[15]and the Digital Single Market Strategy,[16]Transatel has paved the way for low-cost transnational mobile communications, by being the first operator to offer calls to and from other countries within the European Union.
Transatel Mobile was created in 2000 for border dwellers and frequent travelers to solve problems associated with roaming charges applied in France, Switzerland and the Benelux Union. The influx of workers commuting between these geographic locations, paired with their obligation to stay connected, created a need for a mobile connectivity solution.[buzzword]By offering a multi-number SIM card that allows cross-border commuters to place calls at local rates and receive calls for free in four countries, Transatel is able to contribute to the facilitation of trade and the circulation of workers across European borders (Schengen).
In 2010, Transatel decided to address foreign travelers visiting France, and later theEuropean Union,by developing LeFrenchMobile. The creation of the new mobile phone service that allowed Transatel to provide mobile communications on a larger scale by giving students, workers and tourists from around the world the ability to contact their original country while in France or in the European Union.
International travelers depend onmobile appssuch asTripAdvisor,UberandFacebookin addition to placing calls. Travelers need to constantly stay connected the internet.[17]
In April 2015, Transatel created Transatel DataSIM. The brand exclusively offers mobile internet access and allows users to connect to 3G/4G networks in 130 destinations (to date) at local rates.[18]Unlike Transatel's previous offers, Transatel DataSIM was designed to be used throughout the world. To reach the goal of providing global connectivity, the FrenchSMEsigns new agreements every month with national mobile operators around the world.
Bitebird was launched in June 2016 by Transatel and Air France KLM dedicated to frequent travellers. Based on the Transatel 901 system, Bitebird offers a 4G hotspot with a SIM card that can be used at local rates in over 100 destinations.
Research and development
[edit]The following are examples of research and development partnerships that Transatel has developed in recent years:
French R&D
[edit]- MOBISIP: IMS architecture for MVNOs
- SOLIDORE: smartphone / tablet security
- EXOTICUS: IMS experimentation services
- MOBEMO: NFC services for corporate markets
European R&D
[edit]- SEIMONET: transparent mobility between WiMax and 3G
- EXPESHARE: multimedia expert community
Partnerships
[edit]- Manufacturers:Alcatel–Lucent,Gemalto, Nokia, NXP
- Laboratories: France Telecom R&D, Fraunhofer, Telecom Sud Paris, Telefónica R&D, University of Rome
- SMEs: Brieftec, Deveryware, Ingelys, Kutalab
Operations
[edit]Transatel's offices around the world either host local teams (160 people in total) or enable the relationship with consumers, in compliance with local tax and legal rules.
Transatel's infrastructure is deployed in several hosting centers: two in Paris, one in London, and since October 2015, one in New York City,[19]in order to address North American device manufacturers and data MVNOs.
Timeline for MVNO launches
[edit]- 2006 Launch of Ten Mobile on theOrangeFrance network
- 2006 Launch of Telenet Mobile on Belgian network Mobistar, and Calao Mobile and BelSim prepaid offers on Base
- 2007 Launch of prepaid offer IDT Mobile on the Orange UK network
- 2007 Start of wholesale packaged offers sold to medium-size MVNO targeting French companies
- 2007/2008 Launch of ethnic prepaid offers on FrenchBouygues Telecomnetwork: Mobiho, Budget Mobile / Phenix Mobile, Mankono, Horizon Mobile, ZeMobile, Avantaje
- 2008 Launch ofGlobalCellon the Orange UK network
- 2010 Launch of EcoNet Wireless (prepaid) on the Orange UK network
- 2011 Launch of M2M enabler
- 2013 Life Mobile launch
- 2015 Provides service forPost Office mobile[20]
Awards and recognition
[edit]- 2015 Received Best MVNA award at the MVNO World congress for three consecutive years[21]
- 2011 Selected as one of ten winners of theChampions du Pôle,an award designated for medium-sized Paris based companies[22]
- 2007 Ranked one of the 50 fastest growing companies in France by OSEO-Deloitte[23]
References
[edit]- ^Manners, David (24 December 2018)."NTT to take majority stake in Transatel".Electronics Weekly.Retrieved23 July2019.
- ^Garner-Purkis, Zak (11 December 2014)."The SIM's the start of it for Transatel".Mobile Today.Retrieved27 November2015.
- ^Pearce, James (5 November 2015)."EE MVNE Transatel launches 4G services".Mobile News.Retrieved9 February2016.
- ^"Transatel to start embedded SIM trial in the US".Telecompaper.2 October 2015.Retrieved9 February2016.
- ^Heuillard, Romain (23 January 2014)."Clubic".LeFrenchMobile: une offre intéressante pour saisonniers et vacanciers.Retrieved9 February2016.
- ^"Transatel supplies M2M Sims for FC Telecom security service".Telecompaper.24 February 2015.Retrieved9 February2016.
- ^"Transatel Expands into US To Serve MVNO, IoT Markets".Pipeline.Pipeline Publishing, LLC. 4 January 2016.Retrieved9 February2016.
- ^Basyn, Dirk (12 December 2013)."Channel News".Jacques Bonifay réélu président d’Alternative Mobile.Retrieved27 October2015.
- ^"MVNO Event".Jacques Bonifay.Retrieved27 October2015.
- ^"Everything Everywhere Signs Three New MVNO Partners with".Explore EE.7 April 2011.Retrieved9 February2016.
- ^"TeleGeography".Transatel signs MVNE deal with Orange Switzerland.20 January 2010.Retrieved21 January2016.
- ^Gueugneau, Romain (25 April 2016)."Les Echos".Transatel déploie ses cartes SIM dans les PC.Retrieved29 April2016.
- ^Bamburic, Mihaita (10 January 2016)."Microsoft teams up with Transatel to sell mobile data plans".IT ProPortal.Retrieved22 January2016.
- ^Russon, Mary-Ann (11 January 2016)."Microsoft to release SIM card that gives Windows 10 devices contract-free mobile data".International Business Times.
- ^"Téléphonie: le Parlement européen vote la fin des frais d'itinérance".Le Monde.27 October 2015.Retrieved29 April2016.
- ^Wruuck, Patricia (11 November 2015)."Updating the single market: Will Europe's digital strategy succeed?"(PDF).Deutsche Bank Research.Retrieved28 April2016.
- ^"Cisco".Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2015–2020 White Paper.1 February 2016.Retrieved29 April2016.
- ^"The Coverage - Transatel".Transatel.Retrieved16 January2018.
- ^"Transatel Deploys Affirmed Networks' NFV-based Mobile Content Cloud Solution".The Fast Mode.5 January 2016.Retrieved22 January2016.
- ^Rockman, Simon (22 June 2015)."Post Office launches mobe service for aged greybeards".The Register.Retrieved21 January2016.
- ^"MVNOs World Congress".MVNO Awards 2015 Winners.2015.Retrieved25 October2015.
- ^"Systematic Paris-Region présente son 1er panel de" Champions du Pôle ""(French).
- ^"7e édition Deloitte Technology Fast 50"(PDF).Deloitte. 2007. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 17 April 2015.Retrieved27 October2015.