Richard Bransons Virgin Mobile
wireless services will be sold in India, the worlds fastest-
growing major mobile-phone market, by Tata Teleservices Ltd.
The Virgin Mobile brand will target customers aged between
15 and 30 years in the South Asian nation, Branson said today at
a news conference in Mumbai. Bransons Virgin Group Ltd. plans
to start selling six handset models, costing 2,000 rupees ($50)
to 5,000 rupees each, in India.
Virgin joins Vodafone Group Plc, the worlds largest
mobile-phone operator by sales, in seeking subscribers in India,
where about one in five people owns a wireless phone. Newbury,
England-based Vodafone operates the third-largest wireless
carrier in a market that added a record 8.77 million subscribers
in January.
“Its the size of the market that is attracting so many
foreign companies to India, said Harit Shah, an analyst at
Angel Broking Ltd. in Mumbai. “The growth is going to be here
in the coming years, compared with the U.K. and the U.S., where
it has plateaued.
Virgin Mobile aims to have 5 million subscribers and become
profitable in India within three years, Branson said.
India ended January with 242.4 million mobile-phone users,
according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The
nation is the worlds third-largest wireless market after China,
which had 547.3 million mobile-phone users at the end of
December, and the U.S.
The agreement extends Bransons wireless holdings beyond
the U.K., the U.S., Canada, France, South Africa and Australia.
Virgin Mobile USA
In October, Virgin Mobile USA Inc., co-owned by Virgin
Group and Sprint Nextel Corp., raised $412.5 million in an
initial public offering. Since then, the shares have dropped 66
percent as the Warren, New Jersey-based company added fewer
customers than analysts forecast, disappointing investors.
Virgin Mobile targets younger consumers in the U.S. by
offering games, music, news and ring tones in a partnership with
Yahoo! Inc. and Viacom Inc.s MTV Networks.
“The estimated population in India of people between 15
and 30 years is 400 million, Branson told reporters today.
“So that is going to be a lot of fun.
Bransons operations also include carrier Virgin Atlantic
Airways Ltd., the Virgin Galactic commercial space-travel
venture, Virgin Music and Virgin Money, which sells loans,
credit cards and investment products.
Tata Teleservices is part of the Tata Group, which also
controls the nations largest maker of trucks and buses and the
largest computer-services provider.
Mumbai-based Tata Teleservices ended last month with 22.5
million wireless customers, or a market share of about 9.3
percent, making it the nations fifth-largest carrier.