Chennai-based Plintron, a Virtual Network Operator (VNO) which has operations in 25 countries, has tied up with BSNL to become a Virtual Network Enabler (VNE) in India, reports PTI. Through its tie up with BSNL, it will be able to host any licensed VNO in India on its platform. DoT currently has given out VNO licenses to 61 companies in India. Plintron, while receiving its MVNO license in April, said that its focus will be on “investing in building capacity (bandwidth), radio coverage (spectrum) and infrastructure in India, and is in talks with Network Service Operators (telcos and ISPs) to access their network on a VNO model especially for rural Indian markets.” Apart from aggregated infrastructure, Plintron will also provide cloud telephony, IoT, and other customised mobile solutions for enterprises. A VNE is a telecom service provider that aggregates network infrastructure, mobile terminals, and business administration services and provides them to VNOs/MVNOs as a single package. VNEs do not have a direct relationship with the customer, and only provides services to businesses and enterprises (B2B). On the other hand, VNOs are telecom service providers who provide services to users via a leased underlying network of a Network Service Operator (like Airtel, Idea, Vodafone), which they get at wholesale rates from telcos. VNOs also work as a reseller for telcos, billing directly to its customers without operating technical facilities or tech support, relying on infrastructure providers for both. Plintron claims to have VNO clients from various industry segments including retail, insurance, financial institutions, postal…
