Essar Tele Retail signs pact with Virgin

Essar Telecom Retail (ETR), part of the Essar Group promoted by the Ruia family, has entered into an agreement with Richard Branson's Virgin Group for a brand licensing, technical and consultancy services agreement for its national chain of multi-brand and multi-service outlets in the telecom retail space under the brand, 'The MobileStore'.

"Together we will gain in strength," said Ravi Ruia, vice chairman, Essar Group.

Essar Telecom Retail stores will be company-owned and company-run with over 2500 stores across 600 cities in three years. The company plans to invest $250 million in the roll-out that is designed to take its revenue beyond $ 1billion.

Over Seventy stores have already been launched and are serving customers across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. Another 100 stores are scheduled to come within the next 6-8 weeks. The chain would be almost 600 stores strong, spanning the top 100 cities and towns, within the next 6 months.

Under this agreement Virgin will provide their expertise in the areas of branding, marketing, customer care, store operations and staff training, while 'The MobileStore' will be powered by a joint brand name Essar-Virgin. "Customer service has always been at the very core of Virgin," said Richard Branson, "and it continues to be central to our business strategy. We're very proud to be associated with The MobileStore and believe together we have an opportunity to fundamentally change the face of mobile retailing in India".

The MobileStore will be offering telecom products such as handsets and accessories, mobile connections and recharges; and other entertainment products such as MP3 players, gaming devices, direct-to-home, cameras and services such as value-added services, handset repairs, handset exchange and bill collection.