Lebara Group is a

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

company providing services using the

mobile virtual network operator A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...

(MVNO)

business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, soci ...

in the

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

Kingdom,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Lebara provides

pay-as-you-go Pay as you go or PAYG may refer to: Finance * Pay-as-you-go tax, or pay-as-you-earn tax * Pay-as-you-go pension plan * PAYGO, the practice in the US of financing expenditures with current funds rather than borrowing * PAUG, a structured financia ...

and contract based mobile SIM cards in these countries, and its brand is also used under license in four other countries.

History

Lebara was founded in 2001 by UK-based

Ratheesan Yoganathan Ratheesan Yoganathan (born 6 December 1975) is a British entrepreneur who, with Rasiah Ranjith Leon and Baskaran Kandiah, is best known as the co-founder of Lebara Group. On 10 August 2012 he took on the role of ex Chairman of Lebara Group an ...

Rasiah Ranjith Leon Rasiah Ranjith Leon (born February 6, 1968) is a Norwegian entrepreneur who, with Ratheesan Yoganathan and Baskaran Kandiah, is best known as the co-founder of Lebara Group where he still is a Director and one of the controlling shareholders. ...

and

Baskaran Kandiah Baskaran Kandiah is a Sri Lankan businessman who is the co-founder and Director of Lebara Group, a European telecoms company with operations in six countries. He is also the Chairman of London Tamil Media, the holding company of IBC Tamil, a pop ...

. The name Lebara was coined from the first two letters of each of the founders' names. At launch the company's initial product was international telephone calling cards, sold through independent mobile phone shops. In 2004, Lebara launched its first mobile virtual network, a low-cost international service in the Netherlands, selling SIM cards using mobile carrier Telfort, a subsidiary of

KPN KPN (in full Koninklijke KPN N.V., also Royal KPN N.V.) is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History Un ...

. After finding success it subsequently launched operations in other European countries including the UK (2007), France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany (2010) and Denmark. Lebara's Swiss operations (Lebara GmbH, Zurich) was sold on July 1, 2013 to

Sunrise Communications Sunrise UPC GmbH (formerly Sunrise Communications AG), doing business as Sunrise, is a Swiss telecommunications provider based in Zurich, owned by Liberty Global. It provides mobile, TV and landline phone and internet services. Since February 2 ...

. In September 2017, Lebara Group B.V. was sold to Switzerland-based Palmarium Advisors AG. The Spanish operation of Lebara (Lebara España SL) was sold to MASMOVIL Group in November 2018. In 2019

bondholders In finance, a bond is a type of security under which the issuer ( debtor) owes the holder ( creditor) a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to repay the principal (i.e. amount borrowed) of the bond at the maturity date as well a ...

of Lebara (under holding company Vieo B.V.) took control of the company.

Operations

The company currently operates in the UK, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany - it has at least 3.5 million customers as of 2017. It has also entered into brand licence agreements for use of its trademarks in Australia, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Spain. In 2017 Lebara launched its first postpaid monthly contract SIMs in the Netherlands, as part of a move to appeal to a wider customer base. Today Lebara focuses on traditional international calling market as well as offering SIM-only plans and post pay services. Lebara plans to offer 5G services as these become available.

References

External links

Official website
{{Telecommunications industry in the United Kingdom Mobile virtual network operators Telecommunications companies of the Netherlands Companies based in North Holland Telecommunications companies established in 2001 Mobile phone companies of Saudi Arabia