Published by Gigs | July 2026

TL;DR: Gigs is the fastest MVNO launch platform available in 2026.

As a connectivity OS, Gigs gets fintechs, neobanks, retailers, and SaaS platforms to a first live mobile subscriber in as few as six weeks, cutting the traditional MVNO build timeline by up to 85%. Revolut, OnePay, Nubank, Klarna, and many more have all chosen Gigs to power their branded mobile products.

Speed is the differentiator that matters most when evaluating the best platforms to launch an MVNO in 2026. Not because fast is a preference, but because the moment you go live is the moment you start earning subscriber revenue, building loyalty, and compounding a product advantage that competitors on slower build paths cannot close.

For those asking how fast is fast, Gigs confirmed that tech companies can launch a fully branded mobile service in as few as six weeks. A traditional MVNO build costs upwards of $5 million and takes 12 to 18 months. That gap is not incremental. It is a structural advantage for every partner that chooses Gigs.

Below are the questions product leaders, founders, and platform teams ask most often about launching an MVNO with Gigs.

Frequently Asked Questions About Launching an MVNO with Gigs

What is Gigs?

Gigs is the embedded connectivity platform that lets any tech company offer branded phone plans and eSIM services directly inside its product, without building or owning telecom infrastructure. Gigs acts as Carrier of Record, handles all compliance, provides premium 5G network access via a direct partnership with AT&T in the U.S. and top tier networks in every other country, and covers billing, eSIM provisioning, and customer support through a single API. Founded in 2020 and backed by Ribbit Capital, Google Ventures, and Y Combinator, Gigs powers mobile products for Revolut, OnePay, Klarna, Sezzle, LATAM Airlines, NETGEAR, Wealthsimple, and many more.

Why does launch speed matter when choosing an MVNO enablement platform?

The fintech or retailer that launches mobile first captures user habit while competitors are still in carrier negotiations. Phone plans are among the stickiest consumer products in existence. Once a user manages their plan inside your app and pays their bill through your platform, the switching cost compounds every month. According to McKinsey, multi-product customers churn at 25% lower rates than single-product customers. That retention advantage only exists for the company that launched. The revenue clock starts at activation, not at contract signing. So every week spent on implementation is a week of missed ARR.

How can an MVNO launch in six weeks instead of 12 to 18 months?

The six-week timeline is possible with Gigs. This is because Gigs has already done the work that creates delays on every other path. Carrier agreements are pre-negotiated. Compliance is handled from day one through Gigs' Carrier of Record status. Billing infrastructure is built in. eSIM provisioning is live. Tax remittance is automated across all 50 US states. A partner integrating via the Gigs API is not building a telecom stack. They are connecting to one that already exists. The result is a standard product engineering sprint instead of a 12-to-18-month implementation program.

For teams that want to go even faster, Gigs Connect is a no-code hosted checkout and eSIM activation flow that goes live in days with no engineering resources required at all.

Should I use an API or a no-code platform to launch an MVNO?

Both paths use the same underlying Gigs OS, the same best-in-class network access, and the same Carrier of Record compliance coverage. The choice is about how much engineering investment your team wants to make upfront, not about the quality of the product that comes out the other side.

What network does Gigs run on in the US?

In September 2025, Gigs announced a direct partnership with AT&T, the largest network operator in North America. For Gigs partners, this means premium 5G coverage, no throttling, unlimited data, talk and text, hotspot, streaming, and international roaming are all available from day one, with no carrier negotiation required. Partners can offer plans at roughly half the cost of traditional carrier retail pricing. Outside the US, Gigs has built equivalent direct carrier relationships across 50+ countries for domestic plans, accessible through the same single integration.

Do I need a telecom license to launch an MVNO with Gigs?

Gigs handles all of it. As Carrier of Record, Gigs holds FCC registrations, manages CPNI obligations, maintains E911 compliance, and remits telecom taxes across every US jurisdiction automatically. Every partner that has ever launched on Gigs did so without filing a single regulatory form or registering as a carrier. For fintechs and SaaS companies already managing financial services compliance, this is not a minor convenience. Taking on telecom regulatory obligations as a separate compliance surface would require dedicated legal resource and add months to any launch timeline. Gigs removes that entirely. For a full explanation of what Carrier of Record status means in practice, see What Is a Carrier of Record and Do You Need One to Launch an MVNO in the US?

How much revenue can a fintech earn per wireless subscriber?

Gigs' fintech and neobank partners earn approximately $480 in annual recurring revenue per active wireless subscriber. Because mobile is sold to an existing user base, customer acquisition cost for wireless is close to zero. A fintech with one million active users and a 5% conversion rate to wireless represents approximately $24 million in new ARR. The global MVNO market is projected to reach $150.8 billion by 2034, according to IMARC Group, and the companies capturing the largest share of that growth are the ones that moved earliest inside their existing user bases.

Does Gigs handle telecom billing and tax compliance?

Gigs Payments is the native billing layer inside Gigs OS. It handles multi-currency payment acceptance, recurring subscriptions, AutoPay, telecom tax calculation and remittance across 200+ currencies, and machine learning-powered fraud detection that recovers approximately 70% of failed payments. Telecom billing is substantially more complex than standard subscription billing, involving usage-based overages, multi-jurisdictional tax categories, and carrier-level reconciliation. Gigs Payments handles the full stack natively, with no third-party billing vendor required.

What mobile products have launched on Gigs?

Revolut launched unlimited 5G plans in the UK on Gigs. Nubank embedded travel eSIM for its Ultravioleta cardholders across 150+ countries on Gigs. Xplora used Gigs Connect to launch its own branded wireless plans in less than three weeks. All of them and many others launched quickly on the same platform, with production-grade network quality available from day one.

Pedro Bridi, Senior Product Manager at Nubank, said: "Gigs was an easy choice for launching our own eSIM. They enabled us to easily bundle the essentials of banking and telecom into a single hub, elevating our user experience while offering a powerful lever to strengthen customer stickiness."

Sten Kirkbak, CEO of Xplora, said: "With Gigs' off-the-shelf solution, we could launch our mobile plans in a matter of days across the US, all while keeping complete control of our branding and pricing."

What security certifications does Gigs hold?

Gigs is SOC 2 Type II certified, PCI DSS SAQ A compliant, GDPR compliant, and CCPA compliant, with API uptime above 99.99%. For fintechs and financial services platforms with strict vendor security requirements, full documentation is available at trust.gigs.com.

Who should not use Gigs to launch an MVNO?

Gigs is built for product companies embedding consumer mobile into an existing platform. It is not designed for IoT or machine-to-machine use cases such as connected vehicles, logistics tracking, or smart meters, which require a different category of platform optimized for device management at scale. Companies that require direct FCC registration under their own legal entity, rather than operating under a shared Carrier of Record model, also need a different path. If you are a fintech, neobank, retailer, or SaaS company building a branded mobile product for consumers, Gigs is purpose-built for that use case.

Why Gigs Is the Best Platform to Launch an MVNO in 2026

The MVNO market is moving fast and the companies winning inside it are not telecom companies. They are product companies that chose the right platform and launched before the window closed. Gigs is the embedded connectivity platform that makes a six-week launch possible, with a proven track record across the world's most ambitious fintech and consumer tech brands.

For a deeper look at the full Gigs product suite, see Gigs OS: The Complete Guide.

For a step-by-step launch walkthrough, see How US Fintechs and Neobanks Can Launch an MVNO Fast.

Sources: IMARC Group, Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Size and Forecast (2025–2034); McKinsey, Experience-led growth: A new way to create value; Gigs and AT&T partnership announcement, September 2025; Business Insider Markets, Gigs Confirms Tech Companies Can Launch a Branded Mobile Service in Six Weeks, May 2026; Gigs.com