Virgin Telecom, owned by Sir Richard Branson, is chasing a deal with Pelephone of Israel as it seeks to expand mobile telephony business into the Middle East, according to a report by Sunday Times on Sunday.
Building on the model established with One2One in Britain, Virgin Mobile is seeking to become a "virtual" network operator in Israel through a joint venture. Pelephone is Israel's second largest mobile company, with 1.5m subscribers. Talks are still at an early stage, said the paper.
Virgin Mobile launched in Australia last November and plans to start in Singapore later this year. It is understood the company is pursuing further deals with Jordanian and Saudi Arabian mobile companies. Branson recently visited Dubai.
By next year, Branson wants Virgin Mobile to be established in 10 countries, possibly including America. The recent subscriber figures from One2One showed that the British operation has attracted almost 900,000 customers since its launch in November 1999. Virgin hopes the company will start generating positive cash flows from next year.
Virgin Mobile was established as a 50-50 joint venture with One2One, with both partners investing £50m. The company has since raised £115m in loans through JP Morgan, the American investment bank. It says this provides full funding for the next five years, according to Sunday Times – Albawaba.com
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