ravi_patent 28 Report post Posted January 8, 2010 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/01/08/stories/2010010853280400.htm Mr Kishore Biyani is getting ready to unleash his mobile services. The business model is likely to be based on the MVNO platform( Mobile Virtual Network Operator) platform whereby a mobile operator does not own its own spectrum and usually does not have its own network infrastructure. Instead, MVNOs have business arrangements with traditional mobile operators to buy minutes of use (MOU) for sale to their own customers. ``We should be ready with the telecom services within the next six to eight weeks,'' stated Mr Kishore Biyani, Chairman of the Future Group. It was at the IRF (India Retail Forum) last year that Mr Biyani had disclosed his plans to enter the telecom space with plans of making Rs 1000 crore on the project. Currently, the telecom project is being handled by Mr Biyani himself and the services are now on the threshold of being launched soon through his retail outlets. “There are many thoughts on generating revenues, but it our telecom project which will be unleashed within a matter of weeks,'' added Mr. Biyani. Virgin Mobile model Currently it is the Virgin Mobile brand which has entered India through a franchise arrangement with Tata Teleservices. The Future Group is expected to be based on a business model similar to that of Virgin Mobile. According to sources, there will be SIM cards based on the GSM platform from the Tata DoCo o brand which will provide the back-end for the Future Group's foray into telecom. However, there are no plans to tap into the synergies which might exist in the hardware market considering the group already has a joint venture under Future Axiom Telecom which is into sourcing and wholesale distribution of mobile handsets. Hospitality plans The Future Group is also keen to enter the hospitality industry with its own chain of hotels. “It is just a thought at the moment and nothing has been formed up as yet,'' added Mr Biyani. Besides, the Future Group is also planning to upgrade its loyalty and direct marketing programmes. There would be new loyalty card which can be used across the group companies. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
me_saket 73 Report post Posted January 8, 2010 i think they have set mind to jump into highly competitive telecom market. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted January 8, 2010 Good for Docomo atleast... They will get some relief by the money from these guys in this dangerous neck-tight competition... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greatest 55 Report post Posted January 9, 2010 This industry is damn competitive... people like uninor think that they will break even only after 5-7 years... even after knowing this, new entrants are not thinking of stopping back... This is going to kill them one day... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
srk006 21 Report post Posted January 9, 2010 MNVOs may break even faster... Their investment is just a fraction of what these mobile operators pour in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
me_saket 73 Report post Posted January 9, 2010 don't forget advertising expense are too heavy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ravi_patent 28 Report post Posted January 9, 2010 biz strategy will be buy in bigbazaar and get free talktime! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
savramesh 37 Report post Posted January 9, 2010 Shop once every month to keep validity.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr.Gagan 17 Report post Posted January 9, 2010 shop for xxx amount and get yy talktime credited to your phone!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
agnivo007 0 Report post Posted January 9, 2010 ^^ Ha ha, nice one... I think virgin mobile should go bust soon... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raccoon 53 Report post Posted January 9, 2010 Why would they go bust? Mebbe they will start something like Virgin Bazaar! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
::Hitesh:: 1,763 Report post Posted January 10, 2010 Its a good option to do business, But what about the mobile number? which series will be alloted ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
me_saket 73 Report post Posted January 10, 2010 no dedicated series, it will be mixed with docomo series Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted January 12, 2010 (edited) Heard that Docomo is also going to be used by Virgin as virtual operators... Then in my Indicom connection all Indicom, Docomo, virgin CDMA, virgin GSM, BigBazaar Mvno will be onnet and with LocalT2T Rs99/month for FREE local calls to all these numbers ... I am loving it... Edited January 12, 2010 by kanagadeepan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
::Hitesh:: 1,763 Report post Posted January 13, 2010 ^^^ Good for you, you are using TTSL, But not good for maharashtra users, we are TTML. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vvinayakpai 26 Report post Posted January 13, 2010 On the face of it, it might feel good that you can call 3-4 opperators for free!!!!!!!!! But at the end of the day it is one operator and multi brands operating under the main umbrella of Tata Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
::Hitesh:: 1,763 Report post Posted January 13, 2010 ^^^ that way u r right ! But even brands are different, users are more comparing other operator. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ravi_patent 28 Report post Posted January 13, 2010 there is another risk..assume virgin and docomo to ask more rolyalty for use of the brands..tata may be in trouble..i cant really figure out y tata docomo with major tata share holding is promoting " Docomo" brand undermining their own brand..do they fear that Tata brand has become synonimous with cheap, 3rd rate network in public minds Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
::Hitesh:: 1,763 Report post Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) ^^^ NTT DOCOMO is one of the biggest operator of Japan, May be TATA have taken GSM technology from DoCoMo, and invested less to enter into GSM. Edited January 13, 2010 by hitesh123 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
savramesh 37 Report post Posted February 13, 2010 Tata Teleservices, Future Group tie up for new GSM brand New brand, T24, to tap the loyal customer base of the Kishore Biyani firm. Telecom service provider Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) today entered into a franchisee agreement with retail giant Future Group to offer GSM mobile telephony services under a new brand T24. TTSL will launch GSM operations under the new brand shortly, starting with South India, and would have a pan-India presence this year itself. However, the details of the tariff plan are yet to be worked out. “This is a franchise model. Under the partnership, Future Group will sell TTSL GSM connections under the brand name T24 to customers in its retail outlets,” TTSL Managing Director Anil Sardana said. For TTSL, this is the second franchisee deal, as it has a similar agreement with Virgin Group, wherein it offers mobile services under Virgin brand targeting the youth. TTSL, which offers GSM services in 15 telecom circles in the country under the brand DoCoMo, is exploring the concept of retailer-telco partnership with T24 launch. By partnering with Future Group, TTSL hopes to grow its customer base. “This is a unique marketing alliance between retailer and telecom operator. The service is only available to Future Group consumers. The starter-kit for T24 will be available from Future Group stores,” Sardana said. With a tagline of ‘Shop more, talk more and Talk more Shop More’, the mobile GSM service will work like a loyalty programme, wherein a customer of Future Group will get some talk time when he shops at Future Group and vice versa. “Customers will get shopping benefits for talking, and talk-time benefits each time they shop,” Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani said. TTSL has added about three million customers last month, taking its total subscriber base to 60 million by January-end. This would push the company to the fifth from its current sixth position in the mobile market. Supporting Trai’s move to kickstart the process for 4G mobile telephony, Sardana said it would help India to come out with high-end services in line with the advanced countries. “About 23 operators will be launching 4G by 2010. The 3G was launched in 2001 and we are already nine years behind. It should not happen in 4G,” he said. Sardana supported the auctioning of 3G spectrum at an appropriate time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kesav 127 Report post Posted February 13, 2010 Dear Admins, Please move this topic to forum "TATA Indicom - TATA Docomo - Virgin Mobile" and change the title of the forum to "TATA Indicom - TATA Docomo - Virgin Mobile - T24" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
keanu_reeves 1 Report post Posted February 15, 2010 http://www.medianama.com/2010/02/223-shop-talk-future-group-tata-indicom-to-launch-t-24/ Kishore Biyani owned Future Group is not launching an MVNO afterall – it has entered into a franchisee agreement with Tata Teleservices to launch Talk 24 (or T-24) soon with the tagline ‘Shop More, Talk More. Tata Indicom already has a similar franchisee agreement with Virgin Mobile, which offers both GSM and CDMA connections as well as data modems. Tata Teleservices also has a tie up with Japanese telco DoCoMo for joint venture Tata DoCoMo, another GSM operator. While Tata & Sons owns the Virgin Mobile brand in India and is paying an undisclosed royalty fee for it, the Tata Teleservices spokesperson said that the Talk-24 brand will be shared with the Future Group. What will be new? Details are unavailable but it does sound unique: the two groups have hit on a concept of exchanging shopping benefits and talk time. At the launch, Kishore Biyani, Chief Executive Officer of Future Group has said that customers will get shopping benefits for talking, and talk-time benefits each time they shop. Business Line calls it a loyalty program. Just imagine the size and nature of this project – integrating two huge and widely differing databases and billing systems! The Tata Teleservices spokesperson told MediaNama that the two firms will jointly work on integrating the billing systems but nothing has begun as the company has only signed the agreement. Future Group gave the same answer: “We have just launched the brand today…more operational details will be shared after some days.” So it appears we will have to reign in our curiosity for now. T-24 will be a GSM service and will begin roll out of its SIM cards shortly, starting with southern India; and plans to have a pan-India presence by the end of the year. Future Group will begin selling Tata Indicom GSM connections under the T-24 brand name at all its retail outlets – Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, eZone, FutureBazaar.com, Central malls, Food Bazaar, Fashion Station, Depot (books and music) and Shoe Factory. In all, there are over 1000 stores in 61 cities – so reaching subscribers will be easy. As we asked earlier, why is the Future group entering the telecom space right now? Are the sector’s hyper-competition, multi-SIMs and lowered ARPUs not sufficient to daunt new telcos? Apparently not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Himanshu Singh 19 Report post Posted February 15, 2010 Well I hope Ambani learns something from Tatas.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
srk006 21 Report post Posted February 15, 2010 IMHO, there isn't much gain to the operator in having multiple brands for the same service. It may result in increase sales of SIM. But you have to share your revenue with the other partner, which can squeeze the operator to death in an already wafer-thin margin scenario. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manishag 17 Report post Posted February 16, 2010 even I am not in favor of MVNO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
