Webinar: There’s a New Way to Do Mobile — Built for Rural Providers

00:00 Introduction

Sarah: Well, hello everyone, and welcome to our webinar, A New Way to Do Mobile. We're excited to have you with us today. I'm going to start with some introductions. So, Dan, if you don't mind moving the slide forward. So I'm Sarah Tomasi, I'm the Director of Marketing at Comtrend. Just a few housekeeping notes before we get started. You all are on mute, so if you have any questions throughout the webinar, feel free to drop those in the Q&A box. And we'll cover as many of those as we can at the end of the webinar. And then today's discussion will be led by Dan Knofler. He is the Director of Business Development at Comtrend. And he will be joined by John DiFrenna as a co-presenter, and he is the VP of Sales and Marketing at Comtrend. So with that, I will hand it over to you, Dan.

00:53 Comtrend backstory & Why Mobile Now

Dan: Thank you, Sarah. Welcome home, everyone. It's good to be here with so many of you familiar companies. Many of you have worked with Comtrend since we opened in the Irvine, California office back in 2002. We were there when POTS and Analog departed and made way to digital. delivering IPTV and triple play services. And I would say today, poetically, we're bringing telephone back home again. It's not copper this time, but mobile. As a retention tool, a growth engine. And a way to keep local subscribers local. I would say everything we've learned across 20-plus years, every relationship, we've built with rural providers led us to a relationship-driven business model. Custom-configured, direct dial engineers, personal account managers. We've always sought the flexible white-glove approach to our customers and their businesses. And so, after a few meaningful conversations under NDA, we figured out how to bring bring mobile to you. I'd say it's in Comtrend's style.

So today, we've got 3 main goals. One is to show why bundling mobile is now a retention necessity. It's not just a new product. Two, is to introduce telecom as a service model, not another MVNO-in-a-box. And three, finally, is to give you a clear, low-risk path to launch mobile under your own brand, fast.

Now, to accomplish this, we needed and found an exceptional partner. OXIO. Their mobile core gives us capabilities that national carriers simply don't hand out. In a moment, I'll show you how that changes everything. John, anything you want to add that?

John: I think that it's important to, through the presentation, Dan, to keep in mind that this isn't a simply a revenue adder. This is a both offense and defense. positioning opportunity, I think. And I think that's something that, that folks that have looked into MVNO services it resonates, right? That it's broader than just revenue.

03:04 Partner Introduction: OXIO

Dan: Absolutely. Okay, so I'll go into introducing our partner. So, OXIO, they're already running over 2 million plus active lines across North America. And today, we're delivering the telecom as a service, so it's not telecom in a box. This is built for you to adapt and overcome, not just relabel another company's MVNO program. You could call it a just-in-time strategy. Showing up exactly when Rural providers are under the most pressure we've ever seen. As a matter of fact, yesterday, in an exploratory phone call, we were talking to a rural telco in Texas. They said that they've dropped from 2,100 customers to about 1,400 since Spectrum marketed a mobile phone and internet bundle in their region.

So, Comtrend OXIO are designed… we basically designed a solution. to reverse that situation, and for them to power their own bundle, even to pair with that new fiber expansion that they're rolling out with funding. Dan, it was really, um, interesting when we first got involved with OXIO, the synergy between. Both of our best-of-class offerings.

Right? So, Comtrend historically has been in the rural space since the beginning of time, from our perspective. And knowing the teams and knowing their pain points, and understanding the infrastructure of those businesses is really important to that category. the niche category of rural telcos and independent ISPs. And OXIO with a differentiator in terms of how they deliver the MVNO infrastructure platform. complement each other nicely because of the flexibility and the adaptability and you know, kind of the personalized service. I think it's super complimentary. Yeah. John, you also mentioned in the past how OXIO's focus has been elsewhere, to other types of customers.

John: Yeah, you want me to expand on that real quickly? So OXIO started several years ago, a number of years ago, in Mexico, actually. It was probably because it was one of the easier places to get involved with the MNOs and MVNO models have been adopted in a variety of countries other than the United States many, many years ago.

But they've built a really significant business there in both partners, reselling. and then in privatized networks, in M2M, or machine-to-machine, oil fields. container tracking, those type of things. And then even, Bimbo Breads, the trucks. you know, we've all seen those trucks. At some point or another. And then, as they started to build that business, they said, well, now we need to start to. go across North America and global. So, they've already reached into a number of areas of the United States and into Canada, and they're looking at other global positioning opportunities and when they came to the United States, obviously M2M, FinTech, those type of things are super important to them. But also, the CEO is very, very specific on, he wants niche, knowledgeable partners to take care of categories, in the, sort of, the model that we're working on with our rural telcos.

And that's where Comtrend fit nicely into that model for them, and they for us, because we started looking at, you know, who could we get that had differentiation. and was stable, and that the organizations could work well together, and we could give it to our customers they could have a great option, and so that's what caused us to ultimately pull the trigger with OXIO years ago. But, to that point, their infrastructure is so conducive to everything from M2M, to things like, big insurance companies, or big credit companies, or whoever that's delivering a cellular service. all the way to and through residential and business. options, so… All right, that's… yeah, our experience there is knowing our customers which leads me into the competition.

06:52 Competitive landscape: cable, NMOs+FWA, digital MVNOs

Dan: The competition is now, we were saying, coming at you from three fronts. First the usual suspect, the cable companies. Now they're bundling mobile as MVNOs, funny enough. Spectrum Mobile, Cox Mobile. Same game plan, newer technology.

The second one is the National Mobile Operators, the NMO, which we throw those letters around. haphazardly now. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile. They're newly offering their fixed wireless plus mobile together into the rural markets. Slow, steady, unfortunately effective, and sometimes not very slow.

Third is the new digital MVNO Wave. So, we joke about saying, you know, thank you to Ryan Reynolds for public awareness. his Mint Mobile did so well, they were acquired by T-Mobile. And now, apropos this meeting here, they're literally calling it Minternet. It's internet and mobile bundled in one click. We know Starlink may not be far behind also with T-Mobile.

So, to understand the big picture I think for this, the three national carriers are basically at war. They're slugging it out using any channel they can make work. And this is about a battlefield we're working in now.

John: And, Dan, there's also the natural evolutionary convergence between all access, right? So, you're gonna have the cellular, residential, conversions, it's, you know, one delivery. I mean, Elon's coming. So someday that will be, you know, satellite, but… it's getting in front of that whole mix, and fortunately, you know, joking aside. even with the satellite option down the road, that's already, from a roadmapping perspective, something that we and our partner are looking at. to get in front of that, because at some point, we're going to want to make sure that we're. protecting our channel and protecting our customers.

Dan: Yeah, that'll be a different presentation. Yeah.

John: You think? Okay.

09:07 Retention through mobile

Dan: Okay, so our first recommendation, our first objective, that is, is retention. You do not need to beat all the carriers and mobile platforms that market to your customers. Why? They are your original customers. It's your community. When they have the opportunity to get mobile service from you, they can get rewarded with a bundle price that immediately makes their internet more affordable. This is your connection to them. In this way, mobile service is your moat. Protecting your core revenue. So, let's lean into this a bit.

So, you've got the community, you've got the history, and the existing reach into your customers in your region so you have the stronger relationship. Your brand is already the trusted name in local, home, and internet services. Now, it's time to adapt. So, leverage that strength with the national mobile coverage that you tailor to your customers. bundled with your internet plans, and support with the same people they already know today.

They have the same relationship, same service standard, just more services under your brand. And you know your market better than anyone. We work with you to design mobile plans that will reflect your community's needs. Whether it's a plan based on a local high school mascot, senior citizens. veterans, as you see fit. So, our bottom line is that you know your community better than the big three.

10:40 LaunchMyMVNO overview

Dan: So getting more into details, the program, Comtrend's LaunchMyMVNO, is built on simplicity, and it's centered around a single great intuitive portal. From SIM inventory and activations to plan creations, there's no new software suite integration. It's just one portal. We've also heard from a number of conversations. from telcos who have already investigated the MVNO space over the last couple years, and this was their list of complaints.

Number one, upfront fees. here's your check to start. Next is an escalating monthly enrollment commitment. Okay, guys, you got 150 subs a month, but next month you need 300, and then you need 450. They set the plans. And they set the margins. And I had people that said they just walked away for that point. So, we're happy to report that we have none of these our model.

John: Dan, that's been an interesting one. I've been on a lot of phone calls and met with a lot of. partners thus far, have been to a couple of shows where we've been, speaking on this topic, and it's one that. I'm not sure people don't believe us. or what, but we have to reconfirm. No, there is no minimum requirement. This is not hardware. situation. This is not a, pay up front situation. So, this is one where we are simply growing with our partners. So, whether it's 1 or 100,000. It's fine.

12:42 A New Mobile Model: TaaS vs MVNO In a Box

Dan: That's right. Well, okay, so that goes to the, the basis of our model. So, what we described, telecom as a service, um, it's a customized approach. So, on the left. is our competition's model. In that one, either your large MVNO that can enter contracts directly with an MNO. Or, you can work with an MVNE enabler that has created their framework to connect with that MNO In both cases, you're at the effect at the MNO's administrative structure.

Now look to the right. OXIO's core connects to the RAN, the radio access network. So, they are the carrier of record. The MNO simply charges OXIO wholesale for the bandwidth used. When a plan or line is changed is made on the OXIO network. It is done. There's no MNO interface to comply with. nor interaction with their parameters. It's simplicity is fast.

John: Yeah, I think that's really one of the keys here when we talk about flexibility, adaptability. and response, frankly. You know, every company's a fantastic company until there's a glitch, right? But it's how you respond to that that's super important. I'm sure, you know, everybody that's a business owner or business decision maker here understands that, and… with the OXIO position and owning the core, it allows us to have a very horizontal escalation path. This is not trying to go deep into the, you know, the bowels of, you know, a New York you know, a New York MNO. Right? And taking weeks and months to get things either resolved or changed or updated, or even suggestions pushed through that then result in change. Yeah, and here, it's a matter of hours and days, not weeks, months years. And if anyone that's worked with us over the last 20 years knows that things don't always go according to plan. Firmwares aren't perfect, rollouts have… and so… you keep your business through being there. Being, at the end of the phone call, when they call, when something comes up. to handle it.

Dan: So, mechanically, what we'll be talking about more among this presentation is the portal that's called BrandVNO. This is where you can launch plans designed for families, for businesses, for community groups. Or seasonal specials, holiday offers. It's the nuts and bolts of the offering. The bottom line is you're able to offer a plan of your choosing that gives you the freedom to compete. OXIO handles the telecom complexity. You control the experience. We don't want you to change what already works for you. Your billing uses APIs to gather what you need for tax compliance and for the monthly statements. No one wants you to add new platforms.

15:10 How to Market your MVNO: Bundling and Differentiation

Dan: So, an example is here was a marketing example from one carrier. And we get these in our email, we get them in our mailbox, and when you see something like this, you can design a better one. You can offer a similar one, you can ignore it. You are the community expert, not the competitor. another one is the B2B component, for the businesses in your area. on how you want to market to them. One of the conversational points that seems… everyone seems to relate to is how effective bundling has been for us.

So I mentioned, like, my affiliation with AAA, not an endorsement, but they are great. They've got me for a car. home, life insurance, I get a cumulative discount. How much? I couldn't tell you. But I know that if I switch one of them to, like, Allstate for car insurance, the other ones are gonna go down. And so, the net effect is I don't shop. I intend to, and eventually I might, but it's been in place for over 12 years. So, churn for bundles is low, and everyone knows it. This is a huge one that resonates, in our conversations, you know, a couple of the calls you and I were on last week. Where the stickiness is created through the, you know, single bill. Right? For your services, and that, like I said, that convergence and that consolidation. earlier that I mentioned, as that occurs, people really like that, especially from a residential perspective. It's also one contact. Right? So, if there's an issue, or something, or a question, that makes it super simple.

And then we also had a situation, or have many situations so far, where. Again, it's less about the revenue stream and more about the defensive moat that you're creating. through things like bundles with this offering, where there's the, you know, high margin, in some cases, internet pipe. That you want to make sure that you secure and sustain. And, you know, and that that's fundamentally, protected, and this is one of those opportunities to do that. It's profitable, fantastic. But that's up to you. Right? You could choose to almost give it away at your cost if you wanted to, to keep that defensive moat up, or layer it into your revenue streams and your PNL, however you want to handle it, but you have that flexibility. Yep. Awesome. I was gonna say, right now, let's dive into deep details, or pop the hood.

17:40 What Do You Need to Become an MVNO?

Dan: This is my reality check slide. We can say it's simple, but it's still a business. So, I'm gonna jump around here and give an idea of the kind of moving parts involved in launching your MVNO. So, I mentioned, and we'll see a little bit more on the brand VNO, that's the actual portal used for the management and activations and such.

Analytics is a tool, being rolled out soon to assist with analyzing plans and performances, and how you want to set them up. We've already mentioned under the billing structure is that using APIs allows you to use your existing software. Again, we understand that some competitors have other suites of software that you're supposed to tie together.

There's something we haven't touched on, it's a significant part of the Comtrend offering is our partner ecosystem. We've been discussing various elements with outside partners to vet them. These are consultants for API integration, if needed. Also, handset providers, there are a lot of strategies around handsets. new, used, secondhand, refurbished. If you want to explore that with, without financing. it's… it's quite a jungle out there. You want me to pause, John, is there anything on the partner ecosystem?

John: Yes, so I think that's a really great point, and we discovered very, very early that there were varying demands from different profiles of our customer base. And we wanted to make sure that we filled as many of those gaps as possible with pre-vetting. and bringing to the table, quality organizations for your organizations. If you needed it. So, as Dan was mentioning, this ecosystem is made up of API consultants or integrators, so if you said, hey, I want to API into the billing system. Can I do that?

Yes, you absolutely can. We have a massive library of APIs that's really comprehensive and super great. probably tons of things you wouldn't use, and probably a ton of things you would. Would love to show that to whoever is responsible at your organization, but If you don't have that expertise in-house, or that expertise is stretched. we want to be able to refer you to an organization that we feel comfortable in referring you to, and then you can. directly work with them and integrate your API.

Handsets. We have varying demands on handsets, where some customers don't want to touch them. Some only want to deliver eSIM s, not PSIMs, or physical SIMs. some, want to sell the phones. Some want to stock the phones, some want to have phones in their store. so it's all kinds of different variations, so we've gone out. It's been an arduous task, because you have to be very careful, with. all different levels and all different sources of hardware, and we found. After a lot of vetting and a lot of time, a lot of month two, to three that we feel very, very comfortable with, and one that's our lead. Which does a lot of the things that we thought were necessary, like the dropshipping no minimum requirements, you know, and we wanted to also have some billing options. As well, so there's some thoughts and some… actual opportunities there.

And, you know, down the road, we're going to have insurance. options that we could refer over to you, or ideas. And so those are just a couple of, sort of, that ecosystem. But, you know, within that, we also offer some of the things that you might require. In order to go to market that you normally would either use your internal resources for. Or you would go and pay to have done on the outside, like our marketing team is available to you. Via Sarah, our Director of Marketing, and her team. So, you know, Sarah comes in with a playbook for specifically built for the MVNO. service within our partners, and so she'll take you from soup to nuts. on that whole process. Over time, and it's really super beneficial, and it's part of that system of things that we believe you need, and what we found you need.

Tax compliance. Our service is such that it's going to deliver to you the necessary information each month. for you to be able to go ahead and do that, but we also want to be able to have. tax and compliance. Either regional attorneys or national firms that we could refer you over to that have already been vetted that are best of class as well, if you needed that kind of support. So, anyway, this is an ongoing and growing. part of the business, and we're pretty excited about this, because thus far, we've come up with some great partners.

Dan: Oh, yeah, John, one we haven't mentioned, um, along this ecosystem is support.

John: Oh, yeah. Sure.

Dan: So… our model is, uh, is to work with what works with you. If you have a team, if you're comfortable. with us teaching and them doing it, fantastic. If you said, no way, we have a source, literally sourced through. OXIO that knows the system, that can also be an outsourced model.

John: Yeah, and that's the same call center that does, you know, Verizon, and did, TracFone, and does a lot of these big organizations, and what's amazing about that is that. That billing goes through us if you needed it for Level 1 support. And it is a pay for 15-minute use kind of model, once again, so you're not paying for an individual, for, you know, to sit there and not answer the phone when there's no problems.

So, it's another one of those scenarios where we're trying to make sure that our customers. that we're very sensitive to the economics. Right? And so, we've made sure that. the model looks right for you. And, by the way, Level 2 and Level 3 are completely supported by us, and there's no cost, so that's… that's good, too. Just level one, if you want to do it yourself, you got it. If not, we can refer you to a, uh, to an organization. Just level one, if you want to do it yourself, you got it. If not, we can refer you to an organization. They can.

Dan: Yeah, the way it'll work is on your team, if they've gone through the checklist and they can't do it, you go straight to. Level 2, Level 3 support through us, no charge for immediate service.

John: And that's through your primary and singular contact window, just like you've always had at Comtrend. Which is one individual that knows your account, knows your region, knows your patch. And he will be your escalation point, and he will then be the liaison, if you will. through that process.

Dan: Sure. Yeah, this transitions to, like, the, uh, what we'd call, like, the white glove service. Where we're doing things specifically for you in the most customized ways we can. There's another element that we'll arrange when you acquire. acquire eSIMs or PSIMs, the electronic or physical, to have your service name embedded in it, so that when they're activated, it says your telephone company, top left corner of the phone, um, that's absolutely expected for an MVNO.

And then, lastly, but the most fun, is the pricing. Possibly the most interesting… interesting part of the slide. We charge wholesale for bandwidth. If none is used, nothing is charged. If you know the term breakage, this works in your favor.

John:Breakage is an interesting model that, that we all learned early on in this process. So it's the idea of… you know, selling a gig of service. And having a half a gig used.

Right? So there's obvious… that's the breakage, and the big… the big organizations, the MNOs, the nationals. They've built, you know, multi-billion dollar businesses on that model, so that's… that's kind of a beneficiary bonus. within the typical buy-sell. And… Um, one of the things that's a best practice just to keep in mind is. within the typical buy-sell.

And one of the things that's a best practice just to keep in mind is pushing as many of your customers, or recommending, or, creating situations that allow for offloading to wireless. the home residential wireless that you're offering? or community wireless. is huge here. So, there's companies that have absolutely mastered it. to where they've got something like 80% breakage. And it's crazy.

But the average, I think, nationally is something, like, somewhere between 20% and 40%. Dan, you can correct me if I'm wrong.

Dan: No, that's the right range.

John: Yeah, so it creates a very, very large opportunity for you, but again, anybody that masters it or has control of that home situation, or can recommend is a trusted advisor and can recommend best practices. flipping your phone so that it automatically grabs your home network is great. Yeah, our parents are notorious for having plans with gigs that they never, ever use. We call it the 90% breakage model.

26:16 BrandVNO: one portal, simple control

Dan: Okay, so the top left-hand side on BrandVNO Gonna look at that a little closer. So this is a BrandVNO portal on the left. The up-and-coming Brand IQ is on the right. And when we do our presentations, and we demonstrate brandVNO, one of the biggest wow moments. is seeing just how simple it is for you to design a mobile plan. So, for example, let's create an unlimited Patriots plan.

So, you set the name, you set the price, like $39.99, you allocate a 30GB of high-speed data. Because, as you know, every single plan, they all put fine print, so what they describe as high speed, or unlimited, that's… That's a fun arena.

So, once you set this plan, you could set a 90% usage alert, so that at 27 gigs, they get a text saying, hey, you know, you're at 90%, and here's where you're at in your cycle. You could choose it at 30 gigs, the line drops to 2 megabits per second. or lower, even 256 kilobits for essential data if you want to really put the brakes on.

Now, there are options. The system is very flexible. You can put a $5 top-off per gig, if you or per 2 gig. If you want to give them the ability to have more high speed and to increase your margin. You can keep it simple, you can make it advanced. This point is that the plan is designed around your customers, not around carrier restrictions.

So, in a group or individually, we'd like to show you all of this in greater detail. We'll bring you into BrandVNO. So you can see the individual elements and the changes you can make at a granular level. You can get, uh, quite creative. There's one element here that Oxio introduced to us called, zero-rating traffic. John, did you have a… You had an example.

John: Yeah, yeah, this has been a really cool option, either from a promotional, aspect for. some of our telcos, or it's also been a community service that they've been wanting to offer.

So, again, we mentioned, you know. veterans had some telemedicine. issues, and, you know, being on… online and waiting, and they had some delays there, so some folks wanted to. zero rate, the access to that for those. veterans in their community.

Another one was elementary school. where… and now, again, we know a lot of this takes place on the home network, so it was it's a little bit… I don't want to say suspect, but it was probably not a huge amount of data, but…

Dan: Marketing angle.

John: Yeah, they wanted to make sure that the local, you know, community knew that they were supportive of the kids and of the schools. And so they zero-rated their homework portal. Right? So, and it wasn't one of the national, you know, Canvas. I forgot what they… my kids are… a little bit older than that now, but, what the names of them out here are, but… they've zero-rated that.

Dan: Oh, let's… just to clarify, zero rating is when the subscriber knows that that cellular traffic is no charge to them.

John: Right, right. Like, theoretically. Yeah. Yeah.

Dan: You get charged, we get charged, that's still goes through. But they see it as a free value add.

John: Yeah, and not that you'd want to do this, but theoretically, uh, Instagram could be zero rated.

Dan: Yeah, you… no, in my house, please don't do that.

John:If you decided… Right, right, yeah. that's probably gonna kill you, don't do that. But also the, the local football team. Right? High school football, Friday Night Lights, and it was a scenario where. they're looking at, hey, can we have streaming for that couple hours be free. Sure. You absolutely can. You know, so it's just kind of a community thing. Yeah, yeah

Dan: Now, odds are, they'll be there in person. so I'm gonna take us to probably one of the two of the highlights of offerings. only because I like marketing. That's adoption.

31:25 How to Increase Adoption: Personalized Marketing Support

So now, the reality is, and unfortunately, research is now showing that simply adding an MVNO service. to your offering will not move the needle. Adoption can be very low, and the motto, build it and they will come rarely applies.

So, that's why marketing is so essential. We're calling it personalized marketing. Because we leverage our team, our partner portfolio, to actively drive adoption. So it's websites, flyers, social media, including branded outbound campaigns. We are fully committed to making your launch successful.

John: Dan, I do want to emphasize, that's with. ongoing collaboration. So, again, just like everything else, this is not a one-size-fits-all. And we're not trying to just deliver on a collateral. You walk away and say, hey, aren't you happy we did marketing with you? No. We're talking about. coming up with successful programs with you, alongside you, as much as you want us to.

So if you're 100% comfortable and set and have. yourself dialed in, fantastic. If you'd like us to augment that. with simple collateral that we're building out for groups, fantastic. If you need some digital assets. We're gonna have those and have those available. And I, you know, I don't lightly say we have one of the best teams that does that, probably in the in the country. So, and I don't say that just because Sarah's on the call, I say that because that's the feedback that we get. from a very large pool of people that interact with the team.

So,I think that that's a really big asset that can help you be successful. Because, to your point, Dan, you can't just do this. and walk away. And if you're planning on doing that, I really don't suggest that you do it then. Because it's going to be disappointing. But if you are interested in. having this proactively integrated into your outreach. then it makes a lot of sense.

Dan: Yeah, the numbers actually show, at least in the beginning, because this has been. in effort for a few years, some of them saw 1% to 2% adoption rates. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And we could call that a failure. Comcast and Cables, they hit the 12%, they're killing it, because obviously they've got money and reach, and power. And so that's why on this, we're still reinforcing. They don't have the relationship that you guys do.

John: Well, yeah. And Dan, the other thing is that this is… this is a product that you're not introducing somebody to. They already… have a cell phone in their hand. That's right. Right? And can you get competitive on pricing? Sure. Are you, absolutely. Are you going to be, down and dirty with the, most recent guy that happens to pop up? Probably not. or if AT&T decides to. offer something at Christmas that you don't want to match. You're gonna miss it here and there.

But, at the end of the day, it's… you've got… a broad offering that will allow for you to create customized. plans that will allow you to address your community's needs. It should get you a good part of that business. So… Okay.

Sarah: Yeah, and if I could also just add, touching on that too, you know, we also want to keep our pulse on market competition. So, if we can help with. launch promotion ideas, or just ongoing. promotional ideas. We want to fit where it makes most sense for the telco, and really focus on those assets whether that's digital or in person, if you guys are focused more on local events but we really do want to get to know your business and see how we can best support you in that way.

John:That's… that's a great point, Sarah, is that, you know, we see. As much as we have this, you know, the rural telco, if you will, in our. DNA, we do see different demographics in different areas within our you know, very large and established customer base now with different demands.

Some of them are very, very localized, super localized, less business. much more residential, much more community. Some a little more dispersed. Right? And getting closer to urban. You know, and some of the demands that are associated there, so you're right. staying ahead of this is super important, A, because it's moving very fast. the MVNO market today will be different than it is 6 months from now, which will be different than it is a year from now.

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

John: And it's crazy. It's like dog years, I think, you know, right? The last year for us has been insane. So…

Dan:We… yeah, actors, sports teams, celebrities, I mean, so many… People want in. But we… but like we said, it's a moat. You're creating this. to get them in, bundle your internet, and make that less attractive to them. 36:02 Why Now is the Time to Launch Your MVNO You know, outside of the marketing piece of the Ryan Reynolds of the world, and whoever… whatever other social. media influencer happens to jump in. really seems to me, this sounds a little bit, I guess, arrogant, but I think there's only one natural. player in this game, and that is the telco. And so I think that this does make sense for you guys, just from the natural sort of evolution.

Right? We started with phones, you gotta end with phones, you know, and in the middle, you have to deliver all of that. that's around that, and the cell phone has become so ubiquitous to communication that. today, that telco should be the one delivering that. You know…

Dan:Yep. The, Yeah, before I forget, I want to say thank you for all the people attending from the Wispapalooza show. It's, great to see. So, we're gonna go on to the subject of timing.

36:02 Why Now is the Time to Launch Your MVNO

So, as we wind this down, we're going to strongly encourage all of you to explore an MVNO offering. And if it's not with us, then another partner. But, Comtrend's roots, are with the telco and the WISP market, and we want, honestly, your unconditional success. So, we believe in the strength of local communities. and know that action must be taken, and we'd prefer it be led by all of you.

John: Dan, excellent point, Dan. Yeah, again, I want to just reiterate what Dan just said, because I think it's really important, is that. whether it's with us or not. you need to really consider this for your business, because. If you don't do it. There are competitors coming that are doing it. whether they're doing a bundle, or whether they're just trying to get in the door with a cellular service. and then down the road, evolve their product offering to something more threatening to your business.

So, you know, we're intending to be in this market for a very, very long time with you, both delivering residential. access devices, small business access devices, as well as on the wireless side. cellular services and beyond.

And we hope that you'll take action as one of your pain points is to build this defense. and, you know. hopefully will be the ones that have built the right model for you, that it makes it valuable to you. but you need to do it, or at least consider it.

Dan: Sure, yep. At the, I'd say at the end of the day, this comes down to ownership. You've already earned their trust? you already serve the households and businesses that matter. You already understand your community better than any national carrier ever will.

So, it's a controlled, strategic move, one that lets you protect your core business while creating something new that's truly yours. We handle the technical complexity, your team keeps the customer's connection, and that's the whole point. If you're ready, we're here to launch a mobile service that reflects your values. speaks to your community, and keeps your customers for you and with you in the long term.

Any closing comments, John?

John:I was gonna ask you, Dan, if I'm interested, what's the next step, Dan?

Dan:Well, there are always questions about, you know, like, pricing and things that aren't publicly disclosed. So our next steps is to contact us. Email, phone. there's a website's got more information and a form as well. We'll go through the NDA, we'll jump into pricing, so… We could have another webinar for a deeper dive, but usually people want to get us on the call. And start going into what's the agreement look like? What kind of rollout? How do we train support?

John: Great, great. We look forward to those conversations. We're available at any time. We have a whole team of people that are doing those all day long right now.

Dan: Excellent. So we'll… I'll pause here to say thank you for your time today, for listening in.

39:19 Q&A highlights

But now we'll move to Q&A, that is, if. Sarah have any questions, anything come in?

Sarah: Yeah, we had a couple, so I think you might have touched on this earlier, but there was a question about billing integration and, customer management system integration in general.

John: What was the question, Sarah? What we have, or…

Sarah: the ability to integrate. So, can we integrate with our existing billing? Although there weren't details specific around their billing solution.

John: Okay, sure, no problem. So this ties back into that API question. So there is, I've had the opportunity and others,to see it, there is this really extensive. API library that's available in all different languages. that is, ready to go. And so, organizations that understand API integration can grab all kinds of. tools from there to integrate directly into most billing systems that are popular out there. and then if there is something that isn't quite right or there's a nuance or a tweak. The team at OXIO is ready to go and help with that. So, absolutely, there's integration, no problem.

Sarah: Great. Next question was, what level of support would they receive during and after the launch of the service?

John: Dan, if I take that, Dan? Okay, so… so I think this is one of the best parts, because it's really kind of our history. Right? So, we've always been the company that shows up. We'll show up in your lab, we'll show up at your customer site, we'll show up wherever you need us at any time.

Well, we started this journey with that in mind when we said, how do we really offer white glove beyond what other people are. calling white glove, right? So, we work diligently to make sure that you have a single point of contact. And after you get through the demos, and you see things, and you like it, and we get through the agreement. And we're ready to go, which we can do fairly quickly. That can all be done within, you know, a couple of weeks.

We start a process, and it's kind of a chronological series of events that happens. So, it'll be partially, in terms of where you're at. Today it would be Gerard Sison would be our conduit. You would know him from a demo that he'll do with you. during the pre-agreement stage.

And then Gerard would carry you through the training that you would require for Level 1. He would help to enable and set up your BrandVNO portal, along with Dan and along with our product manager, who is directly involved with OXIO. And we would make sure that we get you the right plan with the right model. And we would talk to you and speak to you about your pricing that you would like to offer. And we have tools for you to do that, you don't have to think about it.

You know, have to create your own math, you just have to decide what you want. We'll then, through Gerard, escalate that into our system. And as you go to market, and as you go… get involved in purchasing, and as you get involved in. customer calls. We're going to be right there, available to you, easy access. any escalations are super easy. You get any of us on the phone at any point.

And down the road, after things are working nicely and smoothly, and you've interacted with marketing along the way, and you've interacted with Gerard along the way, and you've interacted with, you know, whoever else, you run into some stumbling block, or you want to expand something, or you have an idea. that you really would like to push out, or something custom.

well, then we're gonna come right back in, like we always have. And the, you know, whether it's myself, whether it's my boss, whether it's my boss's boss. Dan, or whoever. We're gonna get back to you immediately, and we're gonna address your issue. And I think that you're gonna find it seamless for those of us that have done business with us in the past.

And for new… clients. I think that you'll find that we're sort of refreshing in terms of our response times. So you will have one person to call. And and you will have nice, easy contact windows within our organization, and a definitive escalation path, if you have a concern. Sounds good.

Sarah: it looks like I'm seeing a number of questions come through. We'll probably answer one more just based on timing. If anybody else had a question, I can see those, and we will reach out to you guys directly after the webinar to answer those for you.

But last question, are there any minimum, number of subscriber requirements or contracts involved in this service?

John: No, no, there's not. And… but what we would like is to make sure that. If you're going to do it, that you have thought through doing it. Right? So, of course, we don't want you to have to go through, and we don't want to go through the whole process of. Setting it up and getting you ready to go, and then just have it languish. That wouldn't be beneficial to you or us, kind of.

We'd rather wait until you're ready, and then we'll jump in with you with whatever the latest and greatest. options are. Well, you know, if it's 6 months from now, great. But we're here to do that when you're ready. But if you're ready today. There are no minimum requirements. We're gonna try to help you get to whatever percentage goal you want.

If you say, I want to get 1% or 10%, or 20%, or 50%, or more of my customer base over X time, we're gonna do everything we can. Sarah will pay very close attention to your goals. and her team will build models or build support around that.

Even on the Sims, so you're getting two options. You're gonna have a PSIM. physical SIM, or eSIM. which is digital. And most phones today can accommodate. an eSIM, but either way. There is no minimum requirement. Of course, it'd be kind of silly to order them one at a time, because you're talking, like, a dollar. So, you know, maybe you have a handful. of each available to you. because we'll also want to secure your local. phone numbers for you as well, things like that, if you're not porting phone numbers over. So, yeah, so the minimums are… they're non-existent today.

45:24 Next steps & contacts

Sarah: Great. I think that will do it for the Q&A, then.

Yeah, so, if anyone is interested in next steps, a couple of things. We will be following up, with an email, so you'll receive the recording of this and any contact information that you'll need to reach out. for any next steps.

If you wanted to reach out to us, you can see the email here. It is mvnosales@comtrend.com. or phone number, you can call 949-239-1100. But you will receive, an email from us with all this information as well.

John: We're all available as well individually. It's firstname.lastname. Comtrend.com, except, Sarah, I think yours is just T, right?

Sarah: Yeah, full.

John: Okay, Same legend there for all of us. If you need to reach any one of us individually, feel free.

Sarah: Yeah. Yeah, we just want to thank you all for joining me.

Dan: All right. Thank you for your time today. Thank you. Thank you so much. Bye!