To quote George Hook expressing disbelief and frustration at half time at the historic Ireland v France in Croke Park on Sunday: "The Irish players are like pilgrim settlers travelling through the Wild West, circling the wagons and waiting for the cavalry to arrive...But Ireland have no cavalry!" Can George Hook's colorful metaphor be further extended to the imminent crunch in the the Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) industry? Or more importantly, can the MVNOs possibly get out alive with the imminent arrival of voice over IP (VoIP) for mobile phones? Not likely. Given this report from Analysys via Silicon Republic today which chimes in to support for what top telecom and broadband industry commentator Om Malik's been saying for some time now.

1. We've already seen VOIP kill off the key revenue stream for landline network operators.
2. It about to do the same for mobile network operators. (Honorable mention to Cicero Networks, Ireland, Technology Pioneer 2007, for their VOIP over Wi-Fi product.)
3. The MVNO space has got to be the most vulnerable part of this industry.
4. There's already over 200 MVNOs worldwide and more to come...

Where's the cavalry? For the incumbent mobile network operators? For the heavily leveraged MVNOs? If you know someone in a position to act as the cavalry. You also know someone in a position to do some serious business while also rescuing these heavily invested operators from imminent financial ruin.