Chennai-based mobile retail chain, UniverCell, will be opening 700 stores across the country in the next two years. Each outlet will entail an investment of Rs 28 lakh.
“The expansion is in line with the increasing mobile subscriber base and the likely entry of six new players into the Indian mobile services market including Datacom, Etihad, Loop, Telenor, Swan and Loop, which are expected to commence operations in the country pretty soon,” Satish Babu, founder of UniverCell, told mediapersons here on Sunday.
The company today roped in Tollywood actor Mahesh Babu as its brand ambassador. UniverCell, which currently has 300 company-owned stores across the four southern states including 70 in Andhra Pradesh, is trying to touch 400 stores by March 2010 through the franchisee mode.
“This expansion will also see our foray into east and north Indian markets by the end of next quarter,” he said.
Stating that Andhra Pradesh, which sees a net addition of 1.5 million mobile connections every month, is a major market for UniverCell, Babu said the company intended to open 100 more stores in the state in the next one year.
While ruling out any plans to launch their own mobile brand, Babu said the company was selling a sub-Rs 4,000 handset through an exclusive tie up with LG and was in talks with other manufacturers like Motorola, Karbonn and Nokia for similar collaborations. “We expect to seal the deals with them in a month or two,” he said, adding the company expected to see a 20 per cent growth in revenues this financial year, as against Rs 500 crore last fiscal.
