A report from the National Wireless Dealer Association, NWIDA, states that Lyca Mobile is in the process of looking for a new carrier partner to power its MVNO wireless service in the USA. Lyca Mobile has been a long time T-Mobile MVNO. Three separate sources confirmed to NWIDA that a change will be taking place. Sources have told the association that Lyca Mobile will have 90 days to move their subscribers over to another network.
UPDATE: Lyca Mobile has responded to the NWIDA report stating it has not received a termination notice from T-Mobile. However, the company did not confirm or deny if it was looking for a new carrier partner. The full statement to NWIDA reads:
"Lyca Mobile has confirmed that it has NOT received any notice of termination from T-Mobile.
Lyca Mobile values its US customers and assures them that any and all relevant notices will be communicated directly. Should you hear any further rumors, please contact xxxxxxxx "
The reason for this abrupt change is not clear. NWIDA speculates it may be related to a lawsuit Lyca has filed against T-Mobile. BestMVNO is unable to source any details about this lawsuit. However, according to a LinkedIn job posting, the Lyca Mobile global group is looking to add to its litigation team.
Lyca Mobile needing to abruptly move customers over to a new network could be disastrous for the brand. Moves like this can often cause a disruption of service to consumers or require them to purchase a new device in order to have one that is compatible with the new network. Lyca Mobile's UK MVNO switched carrier networks in June, and is reported to have caused disruptions in service.
Some customers choose their MVNO based on who the underlying carrier is that powers the MVNO. BestMVNO recently reported that some Simple Mobile dealers stated that their customers were unhappy when told that they would need to switch over from the T-Mobile network to Verizon. The customers opted to switch to other T-Mobile powered providers instead.
Lyca Mobile USA is owned by the Lyca Group. Lyca Group is headquartered in London, England, and operates wireless brands that provide MVNO services in a couple dozen plus countries throughout the world. Both Lyca Mobile and Lyca Group have undergone significant change over the last few years. In 2021, citing NWIDA, BestMVNO reported that Lyca Mobile USA shook up its management team naming a new Vice President and CEO. NWIDA also reported the Lyca Group named a new CTO, CMO, and CCO. And in June 2023, Lyca Group announced it had appointed a new CEO, Richard Schäfer. Schäfer had previously served as the company's CFO. Lyca Group stated the change was made "as the company targets a new wave of growth underpinned by its investment in delivering high value, low cost services to mobile customers."
Executive and network changes aren't the only things going on with the Lyca Group.
In early October, Lyca Mobile's infrastructure was attacked by possible ransomware. The attack impacted all the global markets Lyca operates in with the exceptions of the USA, Australia, Ukraine, and Tunisia. The attack caused a disruption of service to customers in those impacted markets, as well theft of customer data.
Doubt this’ll be seamless or cheap for current Lyca subscribers.
AT&T doesn’t seem to negotiate much on MVNO network access pricing and Verizon, which seems a little more price-flexible, still has compatibility issues on a lot of low-end GSM phones. And DISH? Not even worth considering.
There are only 2 options available as we know (duh!); AT&T or Verizon.