Virgin Mobile Is Here For The Youth, Courtesy Tata

[Arun 795]

The Hindu Business Line

Monday, November 19, 2007 (New Delhi)

Britain's Virgin group will soon enter India's mobile phone market and make animated films, even as it awaits government nod to fly the domestic aviation space, its founder Sir Richard Branson said.

The UK-based Virgin Group is to make an announcement about its telecommunication venture in India within the next two-and-a-half months and would also like to set up a domestic airline, its founder, Sir Richard Branson said on Monday.

“I love coming to India and will be back in two-and-a-half months; so I will save that announcement for then and not jeopardise my trip,” he said, when asked whom the tie-up would be with. While Sir Richard refused to divulge details of the telecommunication venture, Virgin Mobiles is likely to tie up with Tata Teleservices.

Speaking about his interest in the Indian mobile phone space, Branson said his group had already applied for relevant permission to enter the market. "Give me two-and-a-half months to talk about that," he said.

"It will not be long before we enter the mobile phone business in India," he said, adding, "We have a partner now." The Indian mobile market is the second biggest in the world after China, with six to eight million subscribers being added to the network each month.

The Virgin Group currently offers mobile services as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in six countries, including the US, the UK and South Africa. An MVNO does not have its own network and offers services through the network of other service provider. Virgin Mobile UK was the world's MVNO when it launched in 1999.

[shashank 8]

According to various sources,Virgin will announce its telecom plans today.

Will keep you all updated.

[shashank 8]

Yeah its final.Virgin is here: http://www.virginmobile.in/index.php

Cooooool Site

[shashank 8]

Guys breaking new! They pay you 10p for incoming call...!!!!!!

[hritik123 4]

Yes COOL site at VIRGIN.IN

[hritik123 4]

Virgin Mobile in India with Tata Teleservices

MUMBAI: Virgin Mobile, a unit of British communications group Virgin Media, has launched youth-focused services in India through telecom operator Tata Teleservices, officials from the companies said on Sunday.

Tata Teleservices, India's No. 2 CDMA mobile operator, will launch Virgin Mobile in 50 cities initially and in more than 1,000 cities by the year end, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson said.

It expects to get 5 million subscribers over the first three years with special value-added services and handsets priced at Rs 2,000-5,000 , he said.

"This is Virgin Mobile's seventh launch globally and Virgin's largest investment to date in India," he said, without specifying financial details. "The Indian market is growing like no other market in the world," he said, referring to the nearly 8 million new mobile users who sign on every month, drawn by very low call rates.

India is the world's fastest-growing mobile services market, attracting foreign firms including Vodafone Plc and SingTel, which has a stake in leader Bharti Airtel. Virgin Mobile estimates there are 215 million urban youth mobile subscribers and an additional 50 million urban youth subscribers over the next three years.

It expects revenue in this segment will be in excess of 350 billion rupees in 2010, said Jamie Heywood, deputy CEO of Virgin Mobile in India. Foreign ownership in mobile service providers is capped at 74 per cent in India. Branson has criticised the tight controls in sectors such as telecoms, airlines and retail.

Tata Teleservices and its subsidiary Tata Telservices (Maharashtra) Ltd , provide services in 20 of India's 23 telecoms zones, and had more than 22 million subscribers at end-January. Branson's Virgin Group , which encompasses planes, trains, automobiles, space travel and personal finance, operates flights to London from India, but is not allowed to own a stake in a domestic carrier.

The group also has a minority stake in a private FM radio operator, Fever, controlled by HT Media Ltd Virgin Comics is partnering India's Studio 18 and broadcaster UTV Software Communications Ltd in publishing, television, film and gaming.

"India is a very attractive market to be in," said Branson, who recently beat Jesus Christ in a UK survey to find the top role model for children. "If we can't do well here, we can't do well anywhere else."

[ashoksoft 83]

Actually awesome ... infact it is the same funda that was started by 3 in UK with WePay where a customer receives a few pence for every call received from another network... virgin might launch it for calls from all phones initially (till market cover) and then change rules to calls from non-virgin and tata customers

The interconnect charges is the max revenue earned by a phone company excluding the data usage charges ... So well ..virgin is very well capitalizing on the right moves ...

the only thing that seems missing in the online catalog's is the conspicious absence of DATA plans ... which used to be Virgin's main forte .. till recently !

cheers

karki

[sougatadc 358]

Virgin Mobile, a unit of British communications group Virgin Media, has launched youth-focused services in India through telecom operator Tata Teleservices, officials from the companies said on Sunday.

Tata Teleservices, India's No. 2 CDMA mobile operator, will launch Virgin Mobile in 50 cities initially and in more than 1,000 cities by the year end, Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson said.

It expects to get 5 million subscribers over the first three years with special value-added services and handsets priced at Rs 2,000-5,000 , he said.

"This is Virgin Mobile's seventh launch globally and Virgin's largest investment to date in India," he said, without specifying financial details. "The Indian market is growing like no other market in the world," he said, referring to the nearly 8 million new mobile users who sign on every month, drawn by very low call rates.

India is the world's fastest-growing mobile services market, attracting foreign firms including Vodafone Plc and SingTel, which has a stake in leader Bharti Airtel. Virgin Mobile estimates there are 215 million urban youth mobile subscribers and an additional 50 million urban youth subscribers over the next three years.

It expects revenue in this segment will be in excess of 350 billion rupees in 2010, said Jamie Heywood, deputy CEO of Virgin Mobile in India. Foreign ownership in mobile service providers is capped at 74 per cent in India. Branson has criticised the tight controls in sectors such as telecoms, airlines and retail.

Tata Teleservices and its subsidiary Tata Telservices (Maharashtra) Ltd , provide services in 20 of India's 23 telecoms zones, and had more than 22 million subscribers at end-January. Branson's Virgin Group , which encompasses planes, trains, automobiles, space travel and personal finance, operates flights to London from India, but is not allowed to own a stake in a domestic carrier.

The group also has a minority stake in a private FM radio operator, Fever, controlled by HT Media Ltd Virgin Comics is partnering India's Studio 18 and broadcaster UTV Software Communications Ltd in publishing, television, film and gaming.

"India is a very attractive market to be in," said Branson, who recently beat Jesus Christ in a UK survey to find the top role model for children. "If we can't do well here, we can't do well anywhere else."

Tata officials said their service would now have two brands: Tata Indicom for the mass market and Virgin for the niche youth market. The Virgin-based service would offer the extra zing that young users want, such as music, games and downloads. Virgin and Tata hope the alliance will break even at a user base of 5 million, expected in three years. Mr Branson put the revenue target at Rs 35,000 crore by 2010.

Tata Teleservices has lagged competition in India’s growing, but fiercely fought, mobile phone market. It operates in the code division multiple access (CDMA) market, as opposed to the more popular global system for mobile communications (GSM) standard. The group, which has a pan-India-presence serving 22.5 million customers, had a 9.3% market share at the end of January, compared with rival Reliance, which had 17.5%.

Under the deal, Tata Teleservices will pay a pre-agreed fee to Virgin for every user buying the youth-focused service. Both, however, refused to give details of the revenue-sharing agreement. Mr Branson said that Virgin would also look to enter into similar arrangements to cater to GSM users in India. “In another nine months, when the new GSM players start rolling out their services, we would look to offer similar services on GSM as well,” he said.

Virgin will not be an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) using TATA's infrastructure:

MVNO is still not legal in India.

Tata Teleservices managing director Anil Sardana countered complaints from some rivals that the deal amounted to Virgin’s being an MVNO. “This is not an MVNO agreement between Virgin and Tata Teleservices,” he asserted. “There is no airtime contract between us. Virgin Mobile is just another brand that the company would offer. It is us who will invest in infrastructure and get regulatory approvals and operate as a network service provider. Virgin, on its part, would just lend its brand and the value-added services (VAS) that come with it to us.” However, the Virgin brand is exclusive for Tata in the CDMA segment, he added.

[coolrajiv 1]

Virgin seduction: receive calls, get credit

Richard Branson, the flamboyant British billionaire, today ignited a revolution in India’s mobile world with the offer of rock-bottom call rates and a unique cash back offer for receiving calls.

Branson’s Virgin Mobile India, which stormed India’s telephony market under a franchisee agreement with Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTL), is introducing features such as SIM card-based CDMA services with the option of an easy upgrade of handsets. But possibly the best feature is that every Virgin subscriber will get 10 paise credit for every minute of incoming calls they receive from any network.

There’s more: after the first two minutes of calls each day (which will be charged at Re 1 per minute), all Virgin Mobile outgoing calls on local networks for the rest of the day will be charged at 50 paise per minute.

The offer easily beats the lowest call rates in the industry: 99 paise per minute from Reliance and Re 1 per minute from Airtel. Virgin Mobile customers will enjoy this rate without any commitment or extra charge.

“We intend to take the Indian market by storm with our dramatically different services, cheaper calls and attractively priced handsets. It helps that so far, there is no mobile service in India aimed at young people,” Branson said at the launch.

The other major CDMA player, Reliance Communications, refused to comment on Virgin Mobile’s competitive offerings.

Promising personalised customer support, all Virgin Mobile customers will be called back by the same call centre agent to address their query.

Branson said as part of their specialised Indian market offering, Virgin would have password-protected SMS folders for Indian youngsters to keep prying parents away.

Virgin Mobile India will provide youth-oriented mobile services on the TTL network.

Virgin will exclusively license the Virgin Mobile brand and technology expertise in the area of mobile value-added services and handsets to TTL.

Branson said Virgin would be paid an annual royalty depending on the company’s financial performance.

The company expects to break even in three years and add five million youth subscribers by then, he added.

Virgin Mobile is the world’s first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and does not maintain its own network. Instead, it enters into contracts to use the existing networks of other providers, on which it offers services under the Virgin brand.

The company chose the franchisee route in India since MVNO services are not yet permitted in the country.

True to style, Branson unveiled his mobile brand with a 15-storey jump off a hotel building.

The company will launch 15,000 handsets and 40,000 top-up outlets across 50 cities in the initial phase.

“For the Tatas, the tieup with Virgin Mobile will bring a segmented approach to the customer base and greater teledensity. Over the next several months, we intend to build mobile segments targeted at working women, kids and senior citizens too,” said TTL managing director Anil Sardana.

Asked why he opted to go with Tata Teleservices, Branson said he was impressed by Tata’s uncluttered CDMA network. “The Indian telecom market is growing like no other. Our product is good and we need only a small per cent of the market to do well,” he said.

Asked if he would rope in a brand ambassador, Branson said: “I definitely need a younger ambassador. I’m getting too old to jump off buildings.”

And what motivates the maverick billionaire?

“We want to carry on challenging established companies across the world and shake them up. We're supporting people who can do that. The idea is not to sit on profits but reinvest them,” said Branson.

[nkmenon55 1]

when virgin mobile launched in kerala. no hope that the bsnl authorities not permitted this scheme.

[faizca 5]

MUMBAI: Sir Richard Branson, the colourful chairman of Virgin Group, decided to hang in front of a five-star hotel here on Sunday, to announce the launch of his brand in India’s mobile phone market. It was, in fact, suggestive of the delicate balance he is trying to achieve with Virgin’s venture in the country, caught as it is in a controversy over its legal status.

Sir Richard and his Indian partner went all out to assert that Virgin’s entry in partnership with mobile phone service provider Tata Teleservices is not as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO)—a status not allowed in the country—but through a brand extension plan. And, both said they retain the option to work with other partners as well.

“Tata has got the network, we have got the brand.. it makes a win-win for both the companies,” the Virgin chief, dressed in a traditional sherwani, told ET. The deal is a simple franchise arrangement under which Tata will sell part of its services using the Virgin brand and pay per use, he said.

Tata officials said their service would now have two brands: Tata Indicom for the mass market and Virgin for the niche youth market. The Virgin-based service would offer the extra zing that young users want, such as music, games and downloads. Virgin and Tata hope the alliance will break even at a user base of 5 million, expected in three years. Mr Branson put the revenue target at Rs 35,000 crore by 2010.

Tata Teleservices has lagged competition in India’s growing, but fiercely fought, mobile phone market. It operates in the code division multiple access (CDMA) market, as opposed to the more popular global system for mobile communications (GSM) standard. The group, which has a pan-India-presence serving 22.5 million customers, had a 9.3% market share at the end of January, compared with rival Reliance, which had 17.5%.

Under the deal, Tata Teleservices will pay a pre-agreed fee to Virgin for every user buying the youth-focused service. Both, however, refused to give details of the revenue-sharing agreement. Mr Branson said that Virgin would also look to enter into similar arrangements to cater to GSM users in India. “In another nine months, when the new GSM players start rolling out their services, we would look to offer similar services on GSM as well,” he said.

[Nirvana 4]

Hope it doesn't end up like old wine in a new bottle!

[vmsanghrajka 0]

Game is just started guys.. With so many players launching services soon.. Expect tariffs to go south

[kesav 127]

Here is the official link...............

Enjoy with Virgin and TATA............

http://www.virginmobile.in/

[vishalkumar 0]

Unbelievable guys. Hope the quality of service also increases among the operators.

[hritik123 4]

arun plz merge the two topics under virgin in same thread

[HetalDP 947]

Still the OLD CDMA Technology (OLD = boredom in Phone Instruments)

[Honest 836]

^^^

Yes my dear friends, as competition rise then the quality of service must also increases due to this tough competition.

Regards.

[@ksh@T 20]

Virgin, Tata deal under DoT lens

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: A day after Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile announced a partnership with Tata Teleservices for mobile services, the government is studying the fineprint of the agreement to see if it complies with licensing norms of the country.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked its licensing wing to look into the nuances of the deal under which Tata will provide Virgin-branded mobile services, under the code division multiple access (CDMA) technology.

Rival operators have alleged this amounts to Virgin’s entry as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) while the two partners deny the suggestion.

Besides DoT, the finance ministry may also look into the matter as a pan-India licence comes at Rs 1,651 crore and such services may require a licence, sources said. The licence wing of the DoT is expected to submit its report within a week to 15 days.

Sources said Trai would only look into the issue if asked by the DoT. “We have not seen the agreement between both companies, so we cannot comment. But we are very interested in studying the details of the JV. I am sure both companies have already briefed the DoT on this issue before they announced the JV,” a Trai source said.

Further, GSM operators may ask the DoT to get the JV details made public and demand that the DoT set up a committee with industry representation to look into the MVNO question.

Simply put, an MVNO does not phone spectrum or infrastructure, but runs a service by leasing facilities.

When contacted, Tata officials said that the company has not been approached by the authorities yet and would comply with the regulatory requests when approached.

But on Sunday, Anil Sardana, managing director of Tata Teleservices had said, This is not an MVNO agreement between Virgin and Tata Teleservices. There is no airtime contract between us. Virgin Mobile is just another brand that the company would offer.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the body representing all GSM players, has already written to the department of telecom to clarify whether MVNOs can be permitted to offer services in India following the Virgin Mobile’s entry in India.

Globally, Virgin Mobile’s strategy is to act as MVNO and resell its services under the Virgin brand. For instance, it has a tie up with Bell in Canada and an alliance with Sprint in the US to this effect.

Tata Teleservices Maharashtra’s shares were down 0.43% on Monday closing at Rs 35.10 on the BSE.

the angry old man has come into play

[sougatadc 358]

With Virgin mobile in hand, there will be an illegal means of recharge your phone when you run out of balance -

just call your own number from any phone ( this will be a regular practice from any office phone) and keep the call on. You go on accumulating credit on your mobile @10paisa per minute.

Ha ha ha....

Thank you, Sir Branson.

Edited March 4, 2008 by sougatadc

[KumaarShah 143]

^^^

But from your office or any other line, you will still be paying. Go on Mr. SDC, no one will stop you from adding to your existing providers bills just to add balance to your new Virgin mobile. Ha HA hA..... Or will you get free onnet from Virgin as well????

[commonman 228]

The rates are similar to existing plans from TATA / other providers.

The USP is the free call value on incoming calls.

[vishalkumar 0]

^^^

Guys, just imagine, if they have some free onnet scheme, then will the 0.10 paisa per minute be still valid for incoming calls?

[ashoksoft 83]

Trust me ... the rule of 10ps for all incoming calls will soon be replaced by 10ps for incoming calls from which are not from Tata or Virgin .. .the reason is simple .. for every incoming call the interconnect agreement and call revenue share is 30ps to the receipient network (under standard tariffs) thus for eg. If i use a virgin connection and u call me from say a vodafone, voda pays virgin 30ps for u to get the call ... In this case virgin is giving 10ps to u and keeping 20ps with it.

Now once virgin has a prope customer base - it looses points by keeping the same offer active - if virgin to virgin free comes up or anything ... boom ... I call my other virgin fone for me and i get 10ps in return ... the company will have serious issues with unclaimed network usage and overload..

cheers

karki

[HetalDP 947]

Sabhi COAI member ko pet me Jalan ho rahi hai