improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . january 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message lycamobile industry telecommunication founded september 2006 headquarters united kingdom key people subaskaran allirajah chairman premananthan sivasamy deputy chairman products mobile telecommunications services revenue 1.6 billion 2015 website lycamobile.com lycamobile signage garratt lane earlsfield london lycamobile is a mobile virtual network operator mvno operating in 21 countries worldwide . the bulk of lycamobile revenue is claimed to be generated from lycamobile s sim products . lycatel also a part of lyca group serves its growing base of customers within expatriate and ethnic global niche segments that want to make high quality affordable international calls . lycamobile sells international pay as you go sim cards to consumers wanting to make international telephone calls . an mvno leases radio frequency from mobile phone network operators and it forms partnerships with the operators in each country it serves . lycamobile has also developed distinct business structures such as mvna arrangements in different countries . lycamobile states that its focus remains quality and affordable international calling for its customers . it has often adopted an aggressive pricing strategy on entry to new markets in order to acquire early market share . in some instances mno partners of lycamobile have been surprised by the actual growth rather than their own projected estimated growth of lycamobile s products . in 2015 lycamobile renewed a multi year mvno deal with o2 1 the lycamobile brand concept was launched in 2005 with the first trading using the brand taking place in 2006 . its business structure is arranged to have local national private companies branded under licence as lycamobile and operating exclusively in the particular country as either a mvno provider or as the principal wholesaler of lycamobile branded products . since its launch in the netherlands in 2006 lycamobile has more than 15 million pay as you go customers worldwide . 2 contents 1 service differentiation 2 other lyca telecommunications businesses 2.1 gt mobile 2.2 lycatel calling cards 2.3 lycatalk 2.4 lycachat 3 other businesses 4 coverage 5 charity initiatives and contributions 6 comreg 7 references 8 external links service differentiation edit in 2015 pc magazine s mobile analyst advised us customers to take a look at some of the smaller virtual carriers which may offer better customer service or more customized plans such as lycamobile . 3 on the other hand as of july 25 2015 the better business bureau says due to lycamobile s failure to respond to 28 of 46 complaints lycamobile s rating with the bbb is an f on a scale of a to f 4 other lyca telecommunications businesses edit while lycamobile represents the core business of lyca namely the offering of a mvno telecommunications services lyca has other telecommunication services provided to consumers gt mobile edit gt mobile also known as gnanam telecom is a mnvo sub brand of lycamobile that operates in denmark germany the netherlands sweden australia spain italy france belgium switzerland and the united kingdom . 5 the brand like its parent is aimed at those who wish to make national and international phone calls on a pay as you go basis . the gt mobile brand offers alternative pricing structures and packages focusing more on national bundles from the lycamobile brand lycatel calling cards edit lycatel is focused on the sale of calling cards to wholesalers to then sell on to the public . lycatel offers online sales of calling cards and direct customer sales through the lycateleshop . the lycatel brand is not itself used as a calling card brand name but acts as a parent brand name used on various branded calling cards . the most popular brands of lycatel calling cards include africa tel cobra eurocity one one spicy tel supertel unitel viper and world call . each calling card brand features different calling rates to different destinations with some being more suited to single use known in the calling card industry as throw away cards . others are more suited to occasional use but will feature a higher standard rate for each call placed . whilst there is a fair level of confusion between pricing lycatel s underlying charges are significantly less than connecting international calls in a conventional sense . the lycatel or as previously used lyca tel brand has been in existence since 2001 although its early ownership and operational structure were significantly distinct in the early 2000s from the present day . the present day lycatel brand owners and licensees form a larger organisation although the operational focus of lycatel remains the sale of a variety of differently branded calling cards to wholesalers . wholesalers in turn sell onto retailers who then sell primarily to expatriate customers who want to make low cost international calls . lycatel primarily operates via its own national reselling companies or through its service providers in australia austria belgium canada denmark france india an outsourcing operation ireland italy netherlands norway portugal romania spain sweden switzerland united kingdom united states and tunisia . lycatel currently holds a wider country by country spread than the lycamobile operations although lycamobile has begun operations in countries that lycatel does not currently have a presence such as poland . although the calling card market is generally considered to be in decline with the arrival of mobile telephony and its own lycamobile products from 2007 onwards . lycatalk edit the lycatalk brand is also part of the lyca family of brands and operates in the same jurisdictions as the calling card brands with the exception of portugal . lycatalk has less prominence than the lycatel and lycamobile brands but has a simply structured product with no set up fees or other maintenance charges . lycatalk tariff rates are more settled and rarely vary wildly unlike more aggressively price structured products such as calling cards . lycachat edit lycachat is a voice over ip voip offering available to consumers . lycachat benefits from the lycamobile infrastructure and should be able to provide connection to traditional telephone networks at virtually no cost to the consumer . other businesses edit aside from telecommunications there are a variety of lyca branded business ventures . services range from financial products and insurance services as well as ventures into logistics and even an airline business lyca airways based in west africa . ventures of note include the following lycamoney lycamoney is a pre paid debit card offering enabling mainly new migrants to european countries to have access to payment schemes such as mastercard . lycaradio launched in 2013 lycaradio was born after the acquisition by lyca of radio frequencies previously operated by sunrise radio . lycaradio offers two stations lycaradio and lyca dilse . both stations have retained the previous format of sunrise radio targeting south asian communities . this is also in part because of regulatory requirements imposed by ofcom . lyca productions lyca productions is an india based film production venture . to date lyca productions has launched one hit movie . lycafly lycafly is the travel arm of the lyca business & specialises in offering cheap flights and holidays to predominantly asian destinations such as india and sri lanka as well nigeria . lycafly was launched in 2007 as part of an acquisition of an existing travel agency business . the uk lycafly business u can fly limited is owned by pettigo com rcio internacional limitada a portuguese holding company located in madeira portugal . pettigo com rcio internacional limitada also owns the lycafly brand name . at present lycafly operates only in the uk and sri lanka although it is likely to expand to the same countries as lycamobile and lycatel respectively . lycaremit lycaremit launched in 2015 is the one of the newest ventures from the lycagroup which acts as a money transfer service which allows users to send money abroad . coverage edit country partner network note tethering allowed technology austria a1 6 australia telstra 7 belgium orange 8 no denmark tdc 9 france bouygues 10 germany vodafone 11 2g 3g hong kong three no 3g ireland three no 3g italy vodafone 12 no 3g macedonia one.vip 13 2g 3g netherlands kpn 14 norway telia 15 poland polkomtel 16 portugal vodafone 17 romania telekom romania 18 spain movistar 19 sweden telenor switzerland swisscom 20 tunisia tunisie telecom 21 united kingdom o2 united states t mobile 22 no 23 4g lte charity initiatives and contributions edit in december 2010 lycamobile founder and chairman subaskaran allirajah along with his mother established the gnanam foundation in order to provide help for marginalised communities around the world aiming to improve the lives of disadvantaged individuals by providing shelters medical care and improving skills the communities gain independence and in turn improve their quality of life and household income . 2 one of the many projects the gnanam foundation has supported is imperial college s 2013 raincatcher project . this involved building life saving rainwater harvesting systems in rural tanzania with students from imperial college . 3 in 2012 along with the british asian trust 24 the gnanam foundation provided a 3 year grant offering skills training to 1 500 disadvantaged young people in india . the gnanam foundation also seeks to respond to humanitarian crises . during the ebola breakout it donated 59 000 to save the children to help provide equipment and supplies such as beds mosquito nets and medical equipment needed to run ebola treatment centres . 25 additionally lycamobile recently pledged to donate 1 per 10 top up to charity without the customer losing out on any credit . 26 the charity options included action aid british heart foundation cancer research uk nspcc oxfam rspca save the children unicef and water aid . comreg edit on 5 may 2016 lycamobile ireland limited was found guilty of the offence of failing to comply with a request for information made by the commission for communications regulation comreg using its statutory information gathering powers . the company was found guilty in the dublin district court and fined 3000 and ordered to pay a contribution towards comreg s costs . the information requested was in connection with comreg s ongoing review of the wholesale local access wla and wholesale central access wca markets which facilitate the provision of wholesale and retail fixed telephony broadband and other services . 27 t mobile in the united kingdom charges its customers exclusive of their minutes allowance for calls to united kingdom lycamobile gt mobile numbers despite lycamobile uk being headquartered in london and using united kingdom 07 prefixed numbers issued by ofcom in the uk . by contrast lycamobile uk does not treat calls to uk t mobile customers any differently and calls are charged just as any 07 uk mobile telephone numbers . 28 as of june 2016 lycamobile is under investigation for tax fraud and money laundering . 29 30 31 lycamobile has rebutted the allegations . 32 lycamobile has not paid any corporation tax for several years in the united kingdom though the company put aside 9.5 million to cover a potential liability of unpaid taxes including interest and penalties in its 2015 accounts . lycamobile s 2015 accounts were filed seven months late appearing after companies house threatened to strike lycamobile off such an action