Lidl Will Not Enter German Mvno Market

[Triband81]

Here's the long-awaited confirmation about Lidl's plans to enter the German MVNO market. The translation is located towards the bottom:

Branchenkreise: Lidl muss Handy-Pl?ne vorerst auf Eis legen

Gespr?che mit Netzbetreibern scheitern an Preisvorstellungen 16.03.2006, 12:55


Bei Lidl wird es nach Angaben aus Branchenkreisen vorerst kein eigenes Mobilfunkangebot geben. Die Gespr?che mit den Netzbetreibern seien an den Preisvorstellungen des Discounters gescheitert, verlautete heute aus den Kreisen. Lidl hatte im Dezember Sondierungsgespr?che best?tigt, aber keine weiteren Details genannt. Mit dem Angebot wollte der Discounter das Vordringen des Rivalen Aldi ins das Mobilfunkgesch?ft kontern.

Aldi hatte wie berichtet im Dezember in Kooperation mit Medion und E-Plus ein Handy-Angebot gestartet und seitdem mehrere hunderttausend Kunden eingesammelt. Die Minutenpreise von Aldi Talk liegen deutlich unter dem Marktniveau.

Lidl hatte den Kreisen zufolge von den Netzbetreibern einen weiteren Preisabschlag verlangt, um die Preise von Aldi zu unterbieten. Alle vier Netzeigner h?tten dies aber abgelehnt, hie? es. Der Einzelhandelskonzern mit Sitz in Neckarsulm wollte sich nicht dazu ?u?ern.

Translation:

MVNO Sector insiders report that:

According to branch insiders, Lidl will not enter the German MVNO in the immediate future. The negotiations with the 4 established German providers T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus and O2 were broken off due to Lidl's request for an equal price offer to counter ALDI Talk/Medion Mobile's MVNO offer according to branch insiders. In December, Lidl had confirmed that they were negotiating with the 4 German providers but didn't release any additional information. Lidl wanted to counter ALDI's MVNO offer in order to prevent ALDI's subsequent advancement into the German MVNO market.

As teltarif.de reported in December, ALDI entered the MVNO market in cooperation with Medion and E-Plus by offering a cheap prepaid solution. Since then, they have attracted a few hundred thousand customers. The per minute ALDI Talk prices are unique in that they are lower than any of the comparable MVNO offers in Germany.

Insiders reported that T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus and O2 had turned Lidl's request to offer an even lower per minute rate that was supposed to counter ALDI's price. All 4 providers refused to even remotely consider going in that direction. Lidl, headquartered in Neckarsulm in Baden-W?rttemberg, refused to make a statement.

Source: http://www.teltarif.de/arch/2006/kw11/s20926.html

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by Triband81

Here's the long-awaited confirmation about Lidl's plans to enter the German MVNO market. The translation is located towards the bottom:

Branchenkreise: Lidl muss Handy-Pl?ne vorerst auf Eis legen

Gespr?che mit Netzbetreibern scheitern an Preisvorstellungen 16.03.2006, 12:55


Bei Lidl wird es nach Angaben aus Branchenkreisen vorerst kein eigenes Mobilfunkangebot geben. Die Gespr?che mit den Netzbetreibern seien an den Preisvorstellungen des Discounters gescheitert, verlautete heute aus den Kreisen. Lidl hatte im Dezember Sondierungsgespr?che best?tigt, aber keine weiteren Details genannt. Mit dem Angebot wollte der Discounter das Vordringen des Rivalen Aldi ins das Mobilfunkgesch?ft kontern.

Aldi hatte wie berichtet im Dezember in Kooperation mit Medion und E-Plus ein Handy-Angebot gestartet und seitdem mehrere hunderttausend Kunden eingesammelt. Die Minutenpreise von Aldi Talk liegen deutlich unter dem Marktniveau.

Lidl hatte den Kreisen zufolge von den Netzbetreibern einen weiteren Preisabschlag verlangt, um die Preise von Aldi zu unterbieten. Alle vier Netzeigner h?tten dies aber abgelehnt, hie? es. Der Einzelhandelskonzern mit Sitz in Neckarsulm wollte sich nicht dazu ?u?ern.

Translation:

MVNO Sector Crisis:

According to branch insiders, Lidl will not enter the German MVNO in the immediate future. The negotiations with the 4 established German providers T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus and O2 were broken off due to Lidl's request for an equal price offer to counter ALDI Talk/Medion Mobile's MVNO offer according to branch insiders. In December, Lidl had confirmed that they were negotiating with the 4 German providers but didn't release any additional information. Lidl wanted to counter ALDI's MVNO offer in order to prevent ALDI's subsequent advancement into the German MVNO market.

As teltarif.de reported in December, ALDI entered the MVNO market in cooperation with Medion and E-Plus by offering a cheap prepaid solution. Since then, they have attracted a few hundred thousand customers. The per minute ALDI Talk prices are unique in that they are lower than any of the comparable MVNO offers in Germany.

Insiders reported that T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus and O2 had turned Lidl's request to offer an even lower per minute rate that was supposed to counter ALDI's price. All 4 providers refused to even remotely consider going in that direction. Lidl, headquartered in Neckarsulm in Baden-W?rttemberg, refused to make a statement.

Source: http://www.teltarif.de/arch/2006/kw11/s20926.html

I would not translate Branchenkreise as "MVNO crisis"

Kreise is circles, no?

So I would translate it as from circles in the mobile telecom industry (branch of industry)....

A pity.

T-Mobile CEO also indicated dropping rates recently. I don't see much evidence in the PREPAID area from them. They are upping tarifs on Click&Go and will probably nix the XtraNONSTOP.

Stan

[Triband81]

Yep, that's right. I was thinking of the word "Krise(n)" which means "crisis". I wouldn't use the literal translation "circles in the mobile telecom industry (branch of industry)" though since while it provides a general idea, it doesn't carry the same clout as MVNO sector insiders.

In terms of how this may continue, I think at some point the providers will refuse to go below a set per minute rate. They want to make some money off the MVNOs who are getting a slight freebie (for those of you who use English as a second language-- freebie means anything that is free) because they can offer the same coverage without having to invest in a network infrastructure. On the other hand, I'm surprised that T-Mobile, Vodafone and O2 would be so naive as to refuse to take E-Plus on by letting Lidl sign onto one of the competing networks. T-Mobile or Vodafone will probably be less likely to do this anyway but I could see O2 courting Lidl to use their network.

We'll have to see what Lidl does next.

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by Triband81

Yep, that's right. I was thinking of the word "Krise(n)" which means "crisis". I wouldn't use the literal translation "circles in the mobile telecom industry (branch of industry)" though since while it provides a general idea, it doesn't carry the same clout as MVNO sector insiders.

In terms of how this may continue, I think at some point the providers will refuse to go below a set per minute rate. They want to make some money off the MVNOs who are getting a slight freebie (for those of you who use English as a second language-- freebie means anything that is free) because they can offer the same coverage without having to invest in a network infrastructure. On the other hand, I'm surprised that T-Mobile, Vodafone and O2 would be so naive as to refuse to take E-Plus on by letting Lidl sign onto one of the competing networks. T-Mobile or Vodafone will probably be less likely to do this anyway but I could see O2 courting Lidl to use their network.

We'll have to see what Lidl does next.

OK. Sector insiders... Not sure it was only the MVNOs, however.

But, more to the point, it seems providers HAVE INDEED JUST PROVED they will NOT go below the level of SIMYO or Aldi AT THIS POINT. A pity.

For E+, whose #s grew the least, the MVNO strategy has not paid off -- much, so it seems to me. I cannot for the life of me figure out for what offer German mobile users are waiting? The providers have the infrastructure and apparently under-utilized capacity. So any EXTRA minutes they sell at whatever the price help cover those costs --- UNLESS this strategy takes away from their REGULAR business (customers). Like the airlines letting you bid on empty seats on their planes (priceline.com and others). Would you as the airline rather fly with the seat EMPTY with no revenue or pick up $100 for the normally $500-priced seat?

I am not up on the Voda offers, since I don't have a SIM. From what I read it SEEMS they have some lower tarifs than T-MO (network internal and long calls). But as has been mentioned, their offers may be quite confusing.

T-MO keeps offering these limited time offers and it seems those who go for these soon let them expire. How many times can they try the same trick? True, 1800 offers less and probably poorer quality coverage, but to save 23 cents per minute vice XtraClassic (39 cents), why wouldn't you move to SIMYO, Blau or save even more by moving to Aldi-Talk?

Lidl isn't talking. They may have already TRIED O2.... and been rebuffed. Not clear. We can hope there will be more movement soon, but I am not sure.