Introduction

Working with Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) for network offloading presents significant business and technical challenges. The long sales cycles, high integration costs, and ever-changing standards make it a difficult landscape to navigate.

Key challenges include:

• MVNOs have limited R&D budgets, making it hard to justify investment in infrastructure.

• Technical integration often ends up being free, as it's the only way to secure business.

• The industry struggles to standardize offloading, leading to inconsistencies in implementation.

• Passpoint and RCOI provisioning are multi-year processes, slowing down deployment.

Despite these hurdles, network offloading remains a valuable strategy—but only if approached correctly. This article dives deep into the realities of working with MVNOs, the technical barriers, and why partnering with established MNOs and MVNOs is the best short-term strategy.

The Business Challenges of MVNO Offloading

1. The Long Sales Cycle and Financial Constraints

Selling network offloading to MVNOs is a slow and difficult process. Unlike Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), which have structured procurement and deployment teams, MVNOs typically operate with smaller budgets and fewer technical resources.

• Smaller teams = Slower decision-making. Many MVNOs have minimal technical staff, meaning business negotiations take longer.

• Minimal R&D budgets = No money for engineers. Most MVNOs can’t afford to hire the necessary engineering talent to integrate offloading solutions.

• Offloading ROI isn’t immediately clear. MVNOs are cost-sensitive and often prioritize marketing over infrastructure, making it difficult to justify the investment.

Because of these factors, it can take years to close a deal with an MVNO, making it a high-risk investment for companies offering network offloading solutions.

2. Technical Integration: Why It’s Often Free

MVNOs don’t expect free integration, but the reality is they simply can’t afford to pay for it.

• Engineers and infrastructure are expensive. Asking an MVNO to fund integration work often results in rejection.

• Removing upfront costs is the only way to win business. To secure deals, companies must absorb the technical burden and handle the integration for free or at least at a loss for the integrator.

• This makes MVNO offloading high-effort with uncertain returns. Even after integration, an MVNO’s customer base might be too small to generate real revenue.

This financial reality creates an imbalance, where companies must do all the work upfront with no guaranteed payoff.

The Technical Barriers to Offloading

3. The Industry Standards: A Moving Target

There are a few organizations that play a crucial role in defining offloading standards, but the industry lacks alignment on how they should be implemented.

• Offload standards are published as drafts, but real adoption is limited. Many organizational recommendations never make it into real-world deployments.

• Carriers and vendors don’t always agree on implementations. Offload requirements are based on organizational standards, but since those don’t always match carrier needs, companies must stretch solutions to meet both technical and business demands.

• The leading org lacks pull in the Wi-Fi hardware industry. While the are set guidelines, hardware vendors often implement things differently, leading to fragmentation in the ecosystem.

As a result, companies implementing network offloading must constantly adapt, balancing:

1. What is technically possible today.

2. What carriers expect (even if it doesn’t match organizational standards).

This constant evolution makes offloading an ever-changing challenge, requiring custom implementations rather than standardized solutions.

4. Passpoint and RCOI: A Multi-Year Bottleneck

For network offloading to work, MVNOs must support Passpoint and Registered Certification Organization Identifier (RCOI) provisioning, but this process is slow and complex.

• ANQP element limitations in Hotspot 2.0 (HS20) mean RCOI provisioning is required.

• Convincing carriers to update Passpoint profiles takes 1-2 years. Even if an MVNO has Passpoint, adding RCOI support is a slow process.

• For Android, updates take 2-5 years to reach users. Even if Passpoint changes are made today, manufacturers take years to integrate them into devices.

• For iOS, updates are even harder to implement. Apple’s networking stack is locked down, making carrier-driven changes nearly impossible.

5. Why App-Based Passpoint Profiles Are a Weak Alternative

If an MVNO can’t support Passpoint natively, the fallback solution is an app-based Passpoint profile, but this has major limitations:

• User adoption is low. Most MVNO customers won’t install an app just for offloading.

• Ongoing maintenance is required. Passpoint profiles must be updated regularly, adding additional costs.

Because of these barriers, mainline Passpoint support is a must, but only the largest MNOs and MVNOs are equipped to implement it.

The Best Short-Term Strategy: Work with MNOs & Large MVNOs

6. Why Partnering with Established Players is the Smart Move

Given the financial and technical barriers, the most practical short-term strategy (1-5 years) is to partner with MNOs and MVNOs that already support offloading.

• Lower direct pay, but much higher profitability. Even if revenue per contract is lower, the cost of integration is much lower, making it far more sustainable.

• Existing infrastructure = Faster deployment. Established MNOs already support Passpoint and offloading, avoiding multi-year delays.

• More predictable business outcomes. Instead of gambling on an MVNO that might never launch offloading, partnering with existing players provides a clear path to revenue.

7. Why DePIN and Decentralized Wireless (DeWi) Aren’t the Solution

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) have gained attention, but they aren’t viable for solving MVNO offloading challenges.

• No IDP stack or IDPaaS incentives. DeWi projects lack the funding and incentives needed for robust identity management.

• Existing offload players already dominate the market. The companies already engaged in offloading have a significant head start, making competition difficult.

• Industry education and scale issues. DeWi depends on widespread industry adoption, which is still years away.

Because of these factors, DeWi and DePIN do not currently provide a viable alternative to traditional MNO/MVNO partnerships.

Conclusion: The Reality of MVNO Offloading

Working with MVNOs on network offloading is incredibly difficult due to financial constraints, technical barriers, and industry misalignment.

• MVNOs don’t have R&D budgets, making it nearly impossible to get them to pay for integration.

• Technical standards (WBA, Passpoint, RCOI) are constantly changing, requiring a mix of custom implementations and workarounds.

• Deployment timelines are long (2-5 years), making MVNO partnerships a high-risk investment.

Because of these challenges, the best short-term strategy is to focus on MNOs and larger MVNOs that already support offloading, rather than trying to build solutions for smaller, unprepared MVNOs.

For companies exploring offloading solutions, understanding these constraints is critical to making informed business decisions and avoiding multi-year delays and unnecessary costs.

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