Stelios to piggyback on T-Mobile with no-frills launch

Followings days of speculation, easyMobile - the low-cost mobile firm created by Stelios Haji-Iannou - has confirmed it will be piggybacking off T-Mobile.

Stelios' easyMobile concept - where users will buy SIM cards and cheap pay-as-you-go calls, but no handsets, online - will most likely be launched in March and will be masterminded by Danish mobile company TDC, it was confirmed today.

The Danish are already familiar with the concept, where the web-based MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) gained a 10 per cent market share in four years.

As part of the licensing agreement with easyGroup, TDC will have the option to launch its services in 12 European countries.

Analysts are predicting that existing mobile operators may suffer from Stelios' entrance into the mobile space. Strand Consult predicts that in the next 12-24 months, pre-pay mobile prices will drop across the board, in part to compete with easyMobile's offering.

Daniel Bieler, research director at analyst house Ovum said that there's unlikely to be a repeat of mobile operators' response to the no-frills concept when it debuted in other European countries.

"The only effective way to slow down price erosion would be the buying up of no-frill MVNOs, as happened in Denmark. This might prove tricky when dealing with free sprits such as Stelios, though. In our view the no-frill offering could change the exiting market structure beyond recognition," he said in a research note.