Vodafone Australia has today announced that they have purchased Lebara Mobile’s Australian mobile business assets.
As part of the deal, Vodafone will take over Lebara’s mobile base and will have the right to use the Lebara brand in Australia. The Lebara Mobile business for both customers and staff of the company will continue as usual says VHA Chief Strategy Officer Dan Lloyd.
Lebara was started in 2001 by Rasiah R Leon, Baskaran Kandiah and Ratheesan Yoganathan to shake up the market for international calls with international communities and migrant workers in mind. Lebara has expanded now into operations in eight countries, including Australia, a market which they entered in 2009.
Lebara has been utilising the Vodafone mobile network since they launched in 2009, with Vodafone expanding 4G service to the MVNO in June this year.
The Lebara brand will continue to be sold at retailers around Australia including at Woolworths and Coles as well as smaller convenience stores. Lebara customers will continue to receive support through the usual channels, however with Vodafone on board the brand will now receive the support of the VHA network.
Vodafone will still continue to promote the brand, with Mr Lloyd saying ‘At VHA, we are supporters of customer choice, and we look forward to championing the Lebara Mobile brand to offer’.
