Lebara is a

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

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 a Company, business organization creates, delivers, and captures value creation, value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-pub ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. 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 financial ...

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 a ...

Rasiah Ranjith Leon Rasiah Ranjith Leon (born 6 February 1968) is a Sri Lankan-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 share ...

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 po ...

. 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 , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, selling SIM cards using mobile carrier

Telfort Telfort was a brand of Dutch mobile telecommunication company KPN. It operated a GSM mobile telecommunications service in the Netherlands. It marketed itself as being the cheapest option available, and went to some lengths to give the appearanc ...

, a subsidiary of

KPN Koninklijke KPN N.V. (Royal KPN N.V. in English), trading as KPN is a Dutch List of telephone operating companies, telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterda ...

. After finding success it subsequently launched operations in other European countries including the UK (2007),

(2010) and

. Lebara's Swiss operations (Lebara GmbH, Zurich) was sold on July 1, 2013 to

Sunrise Communications Sunrise LLC, doing business as Sunrise, is a Swiss telecommunications provider based in Zurich. It provides mobile, TV and landline phone and internet services. Since February 2019, Sunrise headquarters are located at Thurgauerstrasse 101b, Glatt ...

. 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 (finance), security under which the issuer (debtor) owes the holder (creditor) a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to provide cash flow to the creditor (e.g. repay the principal (i.e. a ...

of Lebara (under holding company Vieo B.V.) took control of the company. Lebara was sold to Waterland Private Equity in August 2024.

Operations

The company currently operates in the UK, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany - it has at least four million customers as of 2023. It has also entered into brand license agreements for the 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. As of 2017, Lebara focused on the international calling market as well as offering SIM-only plans and post pay services. Lebara plans to offer 5G services as these become available.

Ratings and reviews

Lebara Mobile has been reviewed for its competitive pricing and international call services, with mixed feedback on customer service and network reliability.

References

External links

Official website

Lebara Australia

Lebara Saudi Arabia

Lebara Switzerland
{{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