South Africa has emerged as one of the best places in the world to build and run virtual network operators (VNOs). The country combines cost-effective international business operations with a large, skilled, English-speaking workforce, making it an increasingly attractive destination for foreign companies to source expertise.
Through MVNE (a DSG company), brands like DStv and Afgri have been able to design, launch and manage their own mobile offerings, forming part of a broader South African MVNO ecosystem that includes operators across retail, financial services and ISPs, all supported by local teams who understand both the technology and the customer experience behind every successful network.
These are not call-centre teams but product owners, digital specialists, and customer managers who have turned the experiences of operating in the local telecom environment into a competitive export. According to BPESA, the country’s global business services sector added 20,518 new international jobs and generated $328 million in export revenue in 2024.
“South African teams have built MVNOs in one of the world’s most demanding mobile markets. That mix of resilience, cost discipline, and hands-on innovation is now a genuine export,” says Yaron Assabi, Founder of MVNE.
Capabilities and proof points
MDS Global, a Lumine company, provides the cloud-agnostic BSS/OSS software backbone behind many of these operations, combining with MVNE’s local delivery strength to create a complete “operate and optimise” model for mobile brands.
MVNE’s ecosystem spans everything an organisation needs to run an MVNO, from commercial viability assessments and customer engagement to analytics, billing, network provisioning, and compliance. MDS Global’s Converged Monetisation Platform (CMP) manages customer and account hierarchies, orchestration, and policy rules within the same environment. The platform’s modular design means it can integrate with existing MVNE architectures and adapt to the specific demands of each operator or market.
“We are seeing operators in the UK and Europe looking for ways to scale without adding layers of internal overhead. The South African ecosystem brings the operational agility and digital maturity they need,” says Ryan O’Hanlon, VP Global Sales at MDS Global.
The UK needs partners, not outsourcers
In the UK, MVNOs are under pressure to stay profitable in a market defined by competition and regulatory change.
Many are now looking for experienced partners who can help them operate leaner, deliver better customer experiences, and launch new services faster without expanding internal teams. MVNE and MDS Global together offer precisely that. They provide a ready-to-run operations model that improves time-to-market and keeps lifetime customer value front and centre.
UAE momentum and emerging-market cooperation
The UAE represents the other side of the opportunity. Its mobile sector leads the world in digital onboarding and eSIM adoption. But as UAE-based MVNOs expand into Africa and South Asia, they are turning to South African operators who already understand pricing sensitivities, regulatory nuances, and infrastructure realities.
This is not about the UAE needing support. Instead, it is about two regions building scale together. Driving the potential of combining the UAE’s digital sophistication with South Africa’s operational depth.
“The UAE sets the pace in digital onboarding. Behind that front-end, you need an engine that runs flawlessly. That is where South Africa excels,” says Assabi.
Taking the news to Spain
This conversation is front and centre at MVNO Nation Live 2025 in Spain, where MVNE and MDS Global will share the stage to discuss how automation, analytics, and outsourcing are reshaping MVNO growth models globally.
Their joint presentation will unpack how partnerships between software innovators and operations specialists are giving both emerging and established MVNOs the agility to scale faster, from Johannesburg to London to Dubai.
A global narrative
For South Africa, this is more than an export story. It is evidence that operational capability, and not just infrastructure, is becoming a national strength. For the UK, this shows that global partnerships can help operators stay profitable in a high-cost market. And for the UAE, it is a way to extend digital leadership into new regions with confidence.
Digital mobile brands do not fail for lack of vision. They fail for lack of an operating engine and model that can deliver that vision at sustainable economics. South African operators have built that engine, and now the world can run on it.
