Virgin.com to take on portal giants

NEWS Virgin chairman, Richard Branson, yesterday revealed plans to launch a Web portal that will 'champion the British people'. He told Silicon.com that the new Virgin.com portal is due to launch in February, after more than three years in development. Branson said: "We're coming online in a radical way in a few months' time, and I assure you that we're going to shake things up... We are the people's champion." At the moment, the Virgin.com site merely presents information on Virgin Group services. But Branson plans to turn it into a major international portal. He said there is a need, and he can think of no better company to do it than Virgin. The news came at the launch of Virgin BizNet - as covered by Silicon.com last week (http://www.silicon.com/a33227 ) - which has a two year timeframe to double the number of small companies online. Mylene Curtis, MD of Virgin BizNet, said: "Virgin.com won't be an umbrella portal for BizNet and Virgin Net. It'll be a separate, corporate site." Branson hinted that Virgin.com will rely on strategic alliances with other 'real world' companies. He refused to reveal further details, but did explain the timing of the project. "We think now is roughly the right time," he told Silicon.com. "We want to have a company that becomes profitable online relatively quickly. There's enough people online - enough of a market - for Virgin to launch in a major way online - and that's what we plan to do." A full interview with Richard Branson will feature in a Silicon.com Agenda Setters programme next month.