Virgin Mobile eyes UAE launch, regional expansion

Having launched services over the network of Qatar Telecom (Qtel) earlier this year, Sir Richard Branson is planning to expand his Virgin Mobile brand to other countries in the region, with the UAE being targeted for new services, Arabian Business.com reports. ‘We are looking at other places including the UAE. The take up has been very good, and its been a good way to get our brand across to more people, so we are trying to see how we can do it in more places across the region,’ Branson said. Speaking about the success of Virgin Mobile, he added: ‘It is something that we have always tried to do, a simple structure that costs less and everyone understands how to use.’ As previously reported by CommsUpdate, Qtel launched the Virgin Mobile brand in Qatar in May this year. It claims to be Qatar’s first youth-oriented mobile brand, and offers pre-paid-only, simplified all-day tariff plans (with no distinction between peak and off-peak), with a 180-day airtime validity – which it says is the longest available in the country. Virgin Mobile Qatar is the eighth Virgin Mobile branded operation in the world, following on from launches in the UK, Australia, the US, Canada, France, South Africa and India.