I think it goes something like. 1. MVNOs allow the big carriers to maximize the utilization of their network without sullying their own brand image by having p

I think it goes something like. 1. MVNOs allow the big carriers to maximize the utilization of their network without sullying their own brand image by having people on their lowest tier plans with de-prioritized traffic complain about the brand. Imagine if AWS sold preemptible EC2 instances under a different brand. 2. Successful MVNOs tend to grow their customer base, often at the expense of the big 3 and get too big. Too big to be useful as a sink for preemptible capacity and too much of a revenue cannibal. 3. This prompts one of the big 3 on whose infrastructure they operate to buy them out thus regaining the market share. 4. The big carrier then extracts more value from the in-housed MVNO by raising prices. 5. GOTO 1