Cubic Telecom signs MVNO deal with Vodafone in the UK

13 Feb 2012

Entrepreneur Pat Phelan’s Cubic Telecom low-cost call and data service has signed a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement with Vodafone in the UK to sell voice, text and data services as an operator in its own right.

Cubic Telecom’s Maxroam SIM service – sold around the world by airline and travel industry partners – allows people on the move to get better value rates.

Phelan started Cubic Telecom in 2007 originally to allow business travellers access SIMs that guaranteed low-cost roaming. Today, Maxroam SIMs are sold in more than 350,000 retail outlets around the world.

As part of the MVNO deal, Cubic customers living in the UK will benefit from the Vodafone network and local rates.

In addition, Cubic customers from all over the world will be able to use their mobile to call from the UK to any other country for 15c per minute.

Cubic will also be providing low-cost data bundles so visitors to the UK can stay connected to the internet at all times during their stay.

“This supports our strategy of recruiting the right growth partners into our business,” Nick Parbutt, Vodafone’s UK’s director of Wholesale explained. “We look forward to building success with Cubic.”

A part of the deal, users can choose from a suite of data bundles starting at 250MB for €6 which will give them access to thousands of Facebook posts, tweets and emails.

“This deal with Vodafone UK is the first of many which will propel us further to achieving our vision of a global connectivity service that gives customers convenience, simple connectivity and cost savings all on one global prepaid Sim card,” said Gerry McQuaid, Cubic Telecom’s commercial director.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com