Flamboyant British businessman Richard Branson on Sunday announced the launch of his Virgin Mobile?s services in India through a tie-up with Tata Teleservices. Tata Tele will offer Virgin Mobile services through a brand franchisee agreement with the Virgin group. The announcement comes amidst simmering controversy over allowing mobile virtual network operators to do business in the country.
Last week, Cellular Operators? Association of India, the body representing all GSM players, had urged the department of telecommunications (DoT) to clarify whether Virgin Mobile had been issued the first licence for mobile virtual network. The licence allows a virtual operator having no telecom infrastructure to buy airtime from a network operator and use its own brand name to sell it. The present policy does not allow virtual operators in the country.
Announcing the launch, Branson, chairman and founder of the Virgin group, said, ?We want to deliver a more tailored, more relevant offering for a single, distinct segment.? But he refused to reveal how much he was investing. The company is targeting five million subscribers over the first three years after launch with value-added services. The handsets will be priced between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000.
The Virgin Mobile brand, which claims to be India?s first national youth-specific mobile service, plans to reach out to users in 1,000 Indian cities and towns by the year-end. Virgin Mobile?s handsets would be available in over 15,000 outlets and its pre-paid cards would be sold from 40,000 outlets nationally, said a company statement.
Virgin Mobile will offer customers services such as 10 paise credit for every incoming minute from any network and a secret folder where SMSs can be stored with passwords.
Jamie Heywood, deputy CEO, Virgin Mobile India, said, ?Over the next three years, we expect over 50 million new youth subscribers aged between 14 and 25 years and to have mobile service revenue of over Rs 35,000 crore. By focusing exclusively on a single segment and by continuing to deliver innovative services that cater to this segment?s distinct needs, we believe Virgin Mobile can capture more than 10% of this incremental market within three years of launch.?
Anil Sardana, MD, Tata Teleservices said, ?Their service innovation and strong brand resonance with the youth segment will allow us to offer a truly world-class service experience to young subscribers.?
