Loic Didelot (Mixvoip): Building an alternative from scratch in the telecom battlefield

Loic Didelot, founder of Mixvoip, reflects on seventeen years of building an independent telecom operator in a state-dominated market. Interview.

What drives sustainable growth after nearly two decades in a saturated market?
Growth in this environment demands much more than competitive pricing. From the start, I poured every euro earned back into innovation. No outside loans, no shortcuts—just time, effort and patience. Mixvoip builds its own technology, and developing a solid product takes years. But that investment pays off. When features finally align with client needs, traction follows. It’s not magic, it’s persistence. My team remains central to this. Their commitment allows us to challenge national giants. Luxembourg’s telecom landscape revolves around massive state-owned entities. Yet we carved space for ourselves by staying agile, focusing exclusively on B2B, and constantly refining both service and cost structures. Many clients arrive hoping for better pricing or faster response times. They stay because we deliver both. We created an ecosystem where recurring revenue supports new research and where every client becomes part of a long-term evolution rather than a short-term transaction. That’s what shields us from pure price wars. We do not resell generic solutions—we engineer our own. After seventeen years, growth remains possible because the foundations were built to adapt and endure.

"Challengers like Mixvoip keep them fit."

Could Mixvoip still launch today under the current market conditions?
Starting now would be almost impossible. In 2008, I was a 26-year-old with nothing to lose—no kids, no debts, just curiosity and energy. I didn’t see Post, the state operator, as a rival. I simply wanted to build. Back then, regulation existed, but enforcement was minimal. That gave small players breathing room. Today, regulation has become a mountain. Compliance costs alone would choke any newcomer. Launching Mixvoip in 2025 would require millions just to get off the ground, and most of that wouldn’t even touch product development—it would fund paperwork. Timing made everything possible. Now, the barriers to entry are structural, and I doubt a company like ours could emerge under today’s constraints. I was lucky to hit the right window. Looking back, naivety helped. I didn’t know how hard it would be, which meant I kept going when others might have stopped.

What future awaits small telecom players facing consolidation and generational shifts?
Telecom today stands on the edge of structural change. Many companies like mine were born around 2000, and founders now approach retirement. No second-generation IT companies come to mind. Unlike construction or traditional trades, tech doesn’t yet pass easily between generations. That means consolidation is inevitable. Compliance burdens grow heavier every year, making it difficult for small firms to survive. Fewer companies will remain, and they will be larger. Whether that benefits customers is unclear. Fewer competitors often lead to slower innovation. For Mixvoip, I still enjoy building. I’m 43, still full of ideas. But I can’t predict where we’ll land. Maybe we’ll sell, maybe not. What’s clear is that the industry won’t look the same ten years from now. Every founder will have to choose—merge, exit, or scale up drastically. The market won’t allow any other path.