3 to carry MVNO

3UK, the 3G provider much derided for coming late to the UK mobile party, can now count itself among the grown-ups as it agrees to provide network infrastructure to a new MVNO from Gamma Telecom.

Gamma Telecom already provides telephony services to small and medium sized companies around the UK, and the new MVNO will be targeted at that market.

Register readers might also remember the company as the ultimate owner of the London numbers reclaimed from Skype back in November, though the reclaiming was done by a third party to whom Gamma had leased the numbers.

MVNOs are generally expected to target niche markets, ideally those not already being supplied by their carrying network. But Gamma's new venture could easily step on the toes of a network operator unless it's bundled with a fixed-telephony service - something 3 cannot and does not offer.