Virgin Mobile Unveils vKewl Phone In India

Virgin Mobile surely deserves lots of congratulations for expanding its range of mobile phones, with the launching of its latest addition ‘vKewl’ in the Indian market.

Targeting youth, vKewl comes packed with a 1.3 megapixel camera having video recording capability, an MP3 player, FM radio, MMS, speakers and headsets.

The CDMA-capable phone features vBytes and WAP connection, 1.8-inch display screen with resolution of 176 x 220 pixels , 256 MB flash memory together with 64 MB SRAM.

Mr. 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 now made facilities such as video recording and 1.3 mega pixel camera more affordable for youth so that they can capture and share impromptu moments spent with their friends and family without hurting their pockets.”

“According to reports, there will be over 50mn new youth subscribers added over the next 3 years in India and we expect to take a good share of this incremental market,” Mr. Madhusudan added.

Moreover, the phone also has a video player, MicroSD card support, a 262K color screen and WAP and MMS support.

It carries lifetime incoming validity and a prepaid connection.

The Virgin ‘vKewl’ is available at just Rs 3,499 in India.

Virgin comes with an STD revolution

NEW DELH,INDIA: Virgin Mobile, India's first nationwide youth focussed mobile service, today announced its new 50 paise STD Local tariff for the prepaid segment.

Customers can now call any number (mobile or landline) across networks, across India at only 50 paise per minute after the initial three minutes of the day.

"Youth are high users of mobile services. This offer will meet their behavioural needs by providing a value proposition on long distance calling," said M A Madhusudan, CEO of Virgin Mobile India.

"This new tariff enjoys special significance given the fact that urban youth have a strong need for STD which comprises around 25 per cent of their outgoing usage but importantly their spends on STD are as high as 50 per cent."

All new customers can avail this new tariff with a new Virgin Mobile connection on purchase of a starter kit priced at Rs 99. Existing subscribers, who wish to migrate to this plan, can also do so.

"Our strategy has been to offer vigour and flexibility that meets the unique needs of urban youth. We launched in India with the 'Get Paid for Incoming' offer and with the launch of New 50 paise STD Local tariff, we are delighted to set yet another benchmark in the telecom industry in less than a year," Madhusudan added.

According to him, this tariff is first of its kind offer in the country and is part of the company's effort to put end to distances across geographies in India.

Comparing to industry he said: "Against the industry norm of providing STD at the rate of Rs 1 per minute at an additional monthly commitment, this new offer will provide the lowest all India STD base tariff offer at the rate of 50 paise per minute with no extra cost or purchase of a pack – a value proposition no other mobile service offers in India currently".

As per Virgin Mobile estimates, commitment to STD packs is not a regular affair for the youth. The new 50 paise STD Local is aimed at targeting this latent need of the youth by giving them the benefit of lowest STD base rates apart from benefits for local calling at no extra cost.