Lebara
 |
|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 2001 |
| Founder | Ratheesan Yoganathan , Rasiah Ranjith Leon and Kandiah Baskaran |
| Headquarters | 25 Copthall Avenue, London, UK |
|
Area served
|
Europe, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Australia |
|
Key people
|
Ratheesan Yoganathan (Chairman & CEO) |
| Products | Mobile telecommunications services |
| Revenue |
 EUR€ 565 million (2010) |
|
EUR€ 21 million (2010) |
|
|
Number of employees
|
1,400 (end 2011) |
| Website | www |
Lebara is a telecommunications company providing services in many countries around the world, using the mobile virtual network operator business model. Lebara Mobile provides pay-as-you-go mobile SIM cards, targeted toward the needs of international communities and migrant workers.
Lebara was founded in 2001 by Ratheesan Yoganathan, Rasiah Ranjith Leon and Baskaran Kandiah. The founders worked on the idea at an airport cafe after seeing the imposing Telenor building on the way to the airport in Bergen, Norway. The name Lebara was coined from the first two letters of each of the founders' names.
The company's initial product was international telephone calling cards, sold through independent mobile phone shops.
In 2004, Lebara Mobile launched the first-ever low-cost international service in the Netherlands, selling SIM cards using mobile carrier Telfort, a subsidiary of KPN.
The founders established the Lebara Foundation, a registered charity under English law, in 2005.
In 2009 it began using Vodafone's infrastructure in Australia and the UK. By then it had also expanded into Denmark, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. France was added in 2010.
In the UK, Lebara targeted the 16-24 international student community, including through Freshers fairs and targeted emails.
In May 2010 it acquired the ‘Chippie’ brand and customer base in the Netherlands. Lebara said it would retain the Chippie name in the Netherlands, which is designed to address migrant communities from North and South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia. Like Lebara Mobile's Dutch MVNO, Chippie calls are carried on KPN's network. Lebara generated annual sales in excess of €565 million in 2010, and had more than three million active customers.
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Wikipedia