By silicon.com, 31 March 2004 18:10
NEWS Virgin has teamed with the top Canadian operator to shake up the country's market and get Canada's under-24s on to mobiles this Christmas.
The company hopes to repeat its American success, where it picked up almost two million users in as many years. It will be using the network of Canada's biggest operator, with a 24 per cent market share, Bell Mobility.
Michael Docherty, analyst with Ovum in the US, thinks it will succeed. "There is quite an opening. The market is quite settled, with three major players and two small. There is a good opportunity for Virgin to repeat its success in the US using ringtones and music to jazz up the market.
"None of the Canadian players have much of a brand or identity. There's a lot of scope for take-up of mobiles there," he said.
Canada is currently only edging towards a fifty per cent take up of mobiles, with most operators heavily weighted towards the corporate market. Virgin's simple, pay-as-you-go tariff is expected to appeal to younger Canadians.
Both companies will put in C$70 million to start the new operation and get it going in time for Christmas.
Virgin says it is in talks to set up similar operations in various countries around the world.
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