Leader: Is virtual success good enough in mobile?

How many mobile operators does the UK have? Most people could probably name the four main ones, then of course there is newcomer 3, with its third-generation network. So is the answer five? Yes and no.

The success of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in the UK and some other countries bumps up that figure somewhat. Most people know about Virgin Mobile but then there are companies such as Sainsbury and Tesco. Plenty of others are also eyeing the market, for example those voice-minute resellers that have made money with 3p per minute calls to the US and the like.

But it's not just for the non-telco telcos. News today shows us how BT - once the owner of what is now mmO2 - is working in this market. It is pinning its hopes on fixed-mobile convergence with something called Project Bluephone and a new partnership with Vodafone, ditching relationships with T-Mobile and O2.

Meanwhile reports from the US suggest that BT's equivalent, AT&T, is looking at staying in the mobile market even as AT&T Wireless sells up to Cingular. How can it do that? It may be losing its customers, its network and plenty more besides but it gets to hold on to the valuable AT&T brand. Ma Bell will be back in mobile - an MVNO piggy-backing on Sprint's network. Or so the rumour has it.

What all these deals show is the importance of brand in this market. Sure, something like Project Bluephone, dodgy name or not, means innovation but an MVNO must ultimately be a great marketing organisation. We shouldn't be surprised at Virgin Mobile's success. (Though it hasn't won over every market, it should be noted.)

Can a BT make it without its own network? Most telcos around the world do own their mobile networks. BT is the exception - as is Vodafone as a leader in mobile that isn't the mobile arm of an older company.

While BT can get on happily with a Vodafone, it also has to pay a chunk of cash for that privilege. The inherent risks in network build out and maintenance disappear - at least to the degree they do with an outsourcing contract - but there isn't the same scope to make money.

Is a BT happy to lose control? Maybe it has little choice.