Apple reportedly interested in becoming mobile operator, may be testing MVNO

Speaking to Business Insider, “telecom sources” are also reporting that Apple is in talks with telecommunication companies in Europe as well, while it has been in talks with US carriers for years now. Even if Apple is now testing the service and decides to move ahead with it, Business Insider reports that a full launch is likely five or more years out. Pop in an Apple SIM and let Apple handle all of the backend including picking the best carrier for your situation. The Apple MVNO would see you paying Apple for your service rather than a carrier. Just a few months back we detailed how Google is already planning to do the same with a service its calling Project Fi.

As an MVNO, Apple would lease capacity from existing wireless providers, rebrand the service as their own and sell it directly to consumers.

While Apple getting into the MVNO business isn’t a brand new rumor, I hope the company can finally throw its weight around with carriers to offer the service. If the MVNO does become reality and you subscribe to it, you won’t be paying your carrier anymore so it would make sense for Apple to take control of your voicemail. “He and I spent a lot of time talking about whether synthetically you could create a carrier using Wi-Fi spectrum”. Much more than a theoretical plan, the report adds that Apple has already begun trialing such a service in the U.S. Right now it’s available only for the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3, but future versions of the SIM card could be used to launch an Apple MVNO for iPhones. This is actually a big clue revealing Apple’s intentions to start an MVNO. Once Apple is taking money from customers for data and calls, customers will not have direct relationships with carriers.