Fears of cannibalization, network strain, and empowering future rivals loomed larger than a 1990s mobile phone. However, the landscape has dramatically shifted as reality (finally) set in, and today, most MNOs recognize MVNOs not as threats, but as valuable strategic partners and significant revenue generators.

Yet, despite this widespread know-how, a few (and I mean very few) MNOs continue to cling to these debunked “tall tales” like rotary phones in a smartphone era, all to avoid engaging with MVNOs, MVNEs (MVNO Enablers), and MVNAs (MVNO Aggregators). This, of course, demonstrates a striking lack of adaptation to the modern telecom landscape."

The interesting question to me is which of the two telco segments should major brands partner with from the following fields?

• Banks

• Retailers

• Energy Providers

• Travel & Hospitality

• Drinks Groups

• Insurers

In Africa MPESA pioneered and proved the msrket for mobile money - digital payments for people without access to bank accounts-leapfrogging tradional banks and now with added micro-insurance, micro-loans and micro-contracting with innovative partners. It has leapfrogged banks which have lost an opportunity. 

In LATAM, Brazil and Mexico are the regional superpowers in terms of number of MVNO subscribers. Both markets have been enjoying a supportive regulatory framework and can count on the presence of large established businesses such as retailers, ISPs, financial institutions, and IoT operators. Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Argentina are at varying stages of technological and economic maturity, but they all have a long record of MVNO activities in their markets. MVNOs range from supermarkets to alternative fixed-line operators, youth-oriented brands, and local cooperatives.

A report by OMDIA explains “Many of the existing large and long-lasting virtual operators tend to come from the grocery retail and financial sectors, but in Latin America, there is also a vibrant activity of community-based light and very light MVNOs. The presence of established MVNEs has allowed entry into the market of a myriad of very small MVNOs that can focus on customer relations and customer acquisition without having to operate the complexity of the telecom business. In addition to the traditional MVNO segments, Latin American markets enjoy a diverse ecosystem of MVNOs. These include neobanks/fintech operators, travel specialists, an abundance of sporting clubs, and IoT operators (see Figure 18). In short, what distinguishes the Latin American landscape is the diversity of its operators and the multitude of different business models. In the future, it is reasonable to expect to continue to see new MVNOs come from a variety of business backgrounds. Neobanks and the travel segment are two areas of strong development in recent times, mainly thanks to technology such as eSIM. ”

Find a link to the full report in Further Reading.

MVNOs are in a position to leapfrog slow-moving MNOs;

The $150BN Blind Spot: Why MVNOs could win the next Fintech Revolution

Two different views but what is undisuted is that MVNOs are ambitious, innovative and have an opportunity over the next two years to outrun MNOs.

Another innovator may have an answer for either type of  telco. ReLeaf Financial's digital payments and Proof of Intent platform leverages blockchain and cryptocurrency to unleash the latent compute power of subscibers' smartphones. The subsciber need do nothing when ReLeaf is integrated into a telco's backend systems. The revolutionary benefits to a telco is that they can share new revenue streams with their customers-  true value-add. To those in the low and lower-middle income brackets this is life-changing. For telcos they can replace current loyalty schemes with relevant and rewarding value for customers. See Further Reading for more details.

Across LATAM, Africa and Asia there are 2BN people with no access to bank accounts who could benefit from financial services delivered via MVNOs and/or MNOs. The two year window is there for true innovators to deliver the right outrcomes and win this enormous prize.

Further Reading

Understanding the renaissance of the MVNO business in Latin America OMDIA & AMDOCS

Why MVNOs Will Win the Next Fintech Revolution Mike McLaren in Medium

MNO & MVNO Partnerships: From Old Fears to New Revenue Allan Rasmussen

When Poverty Meets Innovation: Five Technologies Rewriting the Rules of Survival by Jean Pierre Mugenga 

Telcos are becoming banks for the next 2 billion customers by Douglas Laney in Forbes Mag

Remember the future: The next frontier for African telcos  McKinsey

Summary of ReLeaf

US Patent 12,505,416 B2, invented by Christopher Walter Surdak and assigned to ReLeaf Financial Inc. heralds a significant new business model for business and consumers. The system employs a "Proof-of-Intent" consensus mechanism, leveraging notaries and witnesses for efficient transaction validation. Drawing from Surdak's expertise in infonomics and ecosystem economics—where idle resources like data and compute are treated as monetizable assets—the ecosystem creates value through distributed participation, low-cost operations, and incentives aligned with emerging market needs.

This patent embodies his ecosystem economics by monetising idle smartphone compute and energy, turning these into revenue streams for users, telcos, and the network. 

 This creates a virtuous loop: users provide compute, telcos gain loyalty tools, and the network achieves decentralization. Surdak's infonomics influence is evident in treating "stranded assets" like idle CPU cycles and pre-paid phone energy as free inputs. Witnesses and notaries earn fees from transactions—split proportionally—without requiring upfront staking or heavy computation.

At scale, this yields ecosystem-wide savings that are shared with all participants. Low marginal costs enable micro-transactions, not just payments but with other ecosystem partners micro-contracting in fintech, insurance, supply chains, and remittances.

In regions like Latin America and Africa—targeted by ReLeaf pilots—telcos have started to evolve into hybrid financial providers. Africa leads the way and Latin America is following. With billions of consumers and small businesspeople unbanked and phone-equipped, the system bridges connectivity and finance, aligning with Surdak's view of crypto disrupting centralized institutions.  It fosters inclusion by enabling low-effort participation, where daily earnings (cents to dollars) cover essentials for those earning under $5/day.

However, dependencies arise: network reliability hinges on participant density, and telco integration risks semi-centralization. Surdak's risk rationality framework applies here—balancing decentralized trust with practical incentives to mitigate fraud or collusion. The Proof-of-Intent shifts blockchain economics from resource waste (Proof-of-Work) to efficient utilization, reducing environmental footprints while rivalling Proof-of-Stake's flaws like wealth concentration.

They do not explicitly prove why a transaction exists or whether it was intentionally authorized beyond a cryptographic signature.

In all pre-existing authentication mechanisms (POW, POS, PBFT, Nakamoto Consensus, etc.) intent is implicit:
1) A signed transaction is assumed to be intentional
2) Fraud prevention relies on private key security alone

Proof of Intent answers a different question:
“Did the sender genuinely intend this specific transaction at this time?”
It does this by requiring third-party confirmation of intent before the transaction is finalized.

Core idea:
A transaction is not valid just because it is cryptographically signed
It must also be affirmed by independent systems (notaries + witnesses)
Only after sufficient confirmations is the transaction committed
This makes intent an explicit, externally verified property, not an assumption."