Company Press Release:

SLIDE IN STYLE WITH vGLIDE

Virgin Mobile launches a stylish slider handset @ just Rs. 2399/- for the Indian youth

New Delhi, February 25th, 2009: Virgin Mobile, India’s first national youth focused mobile service brand, today announced the launch of its ultra stylish slider handset, vGlide, with 65k color and 1.8 inch large screen, FM radio, a unique Paprika Red color and soft touch finish at a price point of just Rs. 2399/-. The phone comes with lifetime validity and a starter user kit worth Rs. 499 that offers prepaid connection, lifetime incoming validity, 499 free local minutes and 499 free local SMSes valid for 60 days. The phone's features include access to Vbytes - Virgin Mobile’s data portal, from where one can download wallpapers, ring tones, games, Tring Tunes (Virgin Mobile's ringback tones) at a daily access charge of just Rs. 5/ - , games, speaker Text Box: vGlide – the stylish slider handset loaded with most desired features at just Rs. 2,399/- • Paprika Red Color • Soft Touch Finish • Dimensions – 47.5mm X 99mm X 14.8mm • 65K color screen • 1.8 inch large screen • FM radio • Phonebook – 700 X 3 entries • Speaker Phone • Access to Vbytes (Virgin Mobile data portal) • Games • Travel charger • Stereo Headset Bundled with Lifetime Validity and a Prepaid Connection phone coupled with the travel charger and stereo headset that provide an enriching mobile experience.

True to its brand philosophy of ‘Think hatke’, vGlide was launched in a unique manner in the Kolkata city. The phone was unveiled with the theme of ‘Glide through life with vGlide’. In keeping with this, the handset inflatable and Virgin Mobile India CEO came sliding onto the stage post an engaging performance by skate dancers.

Delighted on announcing the vGlide phone in India, M A Madhusudan, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Mobile India, said, “Mobile phone is a lifestyle device for youth and has become an extension of their personality and entertainment requirements. Keeping this in mind, we have introduced vGlide, the first CDMA handset in India with the slider form factor in the sub Rs. 2,500/- category. Besides offering the most wanted ‘sliding feature’ vGlide is stylish, matches the attitudinal needs of youth, is feature rich, and affordable.”

Virgin Mobile handsets are currently available across 33,000 outlets nationally and over 1200 organized retail outlets including The Mobile Store, Hot Spot, Go Mobile, Univercell, Croma, Convergem, Big C, Vishal Mega Mart, Vijay Sales, Sangeetha, Mobile NXT, Planet M to name a few. Beyond this, the handsets are also stocked at Virgin Mobile kiosks across the country.

To appeal to the youth segment, Virgin Mobile handsets have been designed to present a blend of competitive pricing, style and features. Besides the bundled offers on handsets such as vKewl and vTrendy, Virgin Mobile has recently introduced vDesire, vBond and vRage into the market.

vDesire is a slim, measuring just 11.5 mm, stylish, chrome finished mobile device and is endowed with 1000 SMS storage capability and supports a large internal phonebook with 500 X 5 entries. The phone comes with an attractive 65K color screen, FM Radio, Stereo headset, Speaker phone, Prepaid connection and Lifetime Validity at a price point of just Rs.1,699/-.

vRage is available in the market at a bundle price of Rs. 1699 including a Rs. 499 starter user kit, Life time Validity,499 local outgoing minutes and 500 local SMSes. All Virgin Mobile phones are color and stereo FM enabled.

vBond is a phone that comes loaded with 0.3 megapixel camera, 262k color screen, a speaker phone and can be used as a modem. It allows net surfers to get back upto Rs. 900 spread over 3 months and this amount can be utilised by users to make Virgin Mobile to Virgin Mobile calls. The phone is priced at Rs. 2799 and comes with lifetime validity and start user kit worth Rs. 499.

vKewl has features like video recording, 1.3 mega pixel camera, MP 3 player, FM radio and is loaded with MMS, speakers and headset. All this is available with lifetime incoming and prepaid connection for just Rs. 3,499/-.

vTrendy is a combination of an extremely stylish color screen phone loaded with FM Radio. This is available at an attractive price of Rs. 1,499 and comes bundled with lifetime validity recharge and a starter user kit.

Since its launch in India, Virgin Mobile has taken a number of initiatives to offer customized and relevant offerings for its youth audience to meet their style, budget and aspirational quotient.

-       ‘Get Paid for Incoming’* - An industry defining tariff offer which credits customers with 10 paise for every minute of incoming call they receive

*Not applicable for calls received from Tata numbers

-      ‘New 50 paise STD local’ - The first of its kind, this offer made geography history and made making STD calls as easy as Local. Virgin Mobile customers can make STD and Local calls @50paise/min without any extra charges or a pack. STD: After the first 3 Minutes of each day at Rs.1.5/- per minute, customers can enjoy outgoing calls through the day at just 50 Paise per minute for up to 30 Minutes daily. Beyond this, the initial rate is applicable. LOCAL - After the first 3 Minutes of the day at Re.1/- per minute, customers can enjoy outgoing calls for rest of the day at just 50 Paise per minute

-      SMS 123 - A unique proposition which allows Virgin Mobile customers to send as much as 200 messages per day free to their friends etc. by just paying for the first three messages. STD Messages: After the first three messages of the day at Rs 1.5/- per message, customers can enjoy 100 free messages, beyond which the regular rates apply. Local Messages: After the first three messages of the day at Rs 1/- per message, customers can enjoy 100 free messages, beyond which the regular rates apply. This recent offer from Virgin Mobile was aimed at ushering in genuine freedom of sending SMSs for youth by providing it without any extra pack or upfront commitment.

In addition, Virgin Mobile offers innovative bolt on (schemes) such as ‘Thank God its Weekend’ that let youth enjoy 100 free local SMSs and all local mobile calls at 30 paise between Friday and Sunday on payment of just Rs. 18.  

For any queries, Virgin Mobile champs can be reached at 600 166 66 from any number. Virgin Mobile customers can reach the 24/7 contact centre at 125999.

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About Virgin Mobile

Virgin Mobile brand is India’s first national youth-focused mobile service. Virgin Mobile branded services are being offered to the Indian consumers by Tata Teleservices through a brand franchise with Virgin. Virgin Mobile India facilitates Tata Teleservices with experience and expertise in designing, marketing and servicing of Virgin Mobile branded products for the youth segment. Virgin Mobile services are being supported from nine centers across nine cities and have bench strength of more than 450 personnel. While Virgin Mobile branded service can be enjoyed by customers in over 3,20,000 towns and villages across India, the focus on subscriber acquisition so far has been across top 150 cities and is set to extend to more cities by year end. Virgin Mobile branded handsets are available across 33,000 outlets and its top up cards across 50,000 outlets nationally. In the recently released SAARC Countries Mobile User Survey 2008, Virgin Mobile India has been ranked as No. 1 in Customer Satisfaction. On the overall satisfaction parameters Virgin Mobile scored over 95%.

About Virgin – The Group

Virgin, a leading branded venture capital organization, is one of the world's most recognized and respected brands.  Conceived in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Group has gone on to grow very successful businesses in sectors ranging from mobile telephony to transportation, travel, financial services, leisure, music, holidays, publishing and retailing. Virgin has created more than 200 branded companies worldwide, employing approximately 50,000 people, in 29 countries. Its revenues around the world in 2007 exceeded £11.5 billion (approx. US$23 billion). 

About Tata Teleservices Limited

Tata Teleservices Limited is one of India's leading private telecom service providers, having a pan-India presence. The company offers integrated telecom solutions to its customers under the Tata Indicom brand, and uses the latest technology platform(s) for its wireless network. With a customer base of nearly 33 million, Tata Teleservices Limited, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited network covers over 3,20,000 towns and villages across 22 circles. In November 2008, Tata Teleservices entered into an agreement with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO, as part of which the Japanese company acquired a 26% stake in TTSL for USD 2.7 billion. The transaction marks a key step in the strategic evolution of Tata Teleservices, as it moves towards a pan-India dual network presence. The company also recently announced a unique reverse equity swap strategic agreement between its fully-owned telecom tower subsidiary, Wireless TT Info-Services Limited, and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Limited—with the combined entity kicking off operations with 18,000 towers, thereby becoming the largest independent entity in this space in the country. Tata Teleservices’ bouquet of telephony services includes mobile services, wireless desktop phones, public booth telephony and wireline services.