Tata Tele may ally with Virgin Mobile

Tata Teleservices is likely to soon announce a partnership with Virgin Mobile, a Tata Teleservices Maharashtra official said.

Virgin Mobile brand is likely to be launched in India in the first week of 2008, he said.

The brand was earlier supposed to be launched on Jan 1, he said.

Under the partnership, Virgin will use Tata Teleservices' network to offer data-related or value added services, he said. Such services typically include video calling and Internet services.Virgin has already bought minutes in bulk on the Tata Teleservices network for the purpose, the official said.

Virgin will sell services under its own brand, but as a result will increase the traffic on the Tata network by 30-50 per cent, the official said. Moreover, this will add enterprise and data traffic on the Tata network, which usually has a significantly higher operating margin than voice services.

Earlier we were doing our sales, but now its like there are two organisations doing it, he said.

Regulatory clearance have possibly held up the launch so far, the official suggested.