Apple won’t be your next wireless carrier after all

Those of you hoping that Apple would become the next wireless carrier in the United States will be disappointed to hear that the company has officially denied such plans, saying “We have not discussed nor do we have any plans to launch an MVNO.” Rumors surfaced yesterday that Apple would be following Google’s lead with Google Fi and begin rolling out its own MVNO within the next few years, but obviously that’s not the case. 

Four years ago, an Apple patent surfaced that outlined how the consumer electronics company might become something called an MVNO. Rumors to that effect have persisted for years, most recently resurfacing this week at Business Insider. Apple swatted the latest aside, telling CNBC that it hasn’t discussed and isn’t planning anything of the sort. And that’s a shame, because it absolutely should. MVNO may sound like an obscure pharmaceutical stock ticker symbol, but it stands for “mobile virtual network operator,” which is admittedly still pretty inscrutable. In practice, though, it’s very straightforward, explains telecom industry analyst Jeff Kagan. “An MVNO is simply a reseller,” says Kagan. “It’s a company who strikes up an agreement with a wireless network to sell wireless service without owning their own networks.”