Future Group plans to foray as virtual network operator

NEW DELHI: Business conglomerate Future Group said it is planing to enter in the fast growing mobile services as a franchisee for virtual network operators by next year.

"We are not in a hurry. We have just began talking with some network operators," Future Group Chief Executive Kishore Biyani said in their newsletter.

The company is likely to invest about Rs 100 crore for foraying into the mobile service , he added.
"We are looking at all consumer segments for growth in our business and mobile is one of the segments we are looking at," Biyani said.

Future Group, which has interests in real estate, logistics and media, has appointed consulting firm McKinsey and Co and UK's Value Partners Group Ltd as advisors for the business.

The idea is to allow customers to pay less for airtime as it has a grocery item such as rice or sugar he said adding "We plan to offer free outgoing calls to customers who buy food , groceries, clothes and mobile handsets from our stores.

A mobile virtual network operator is a company that provides mobile phone service but does not have its own licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum, nor does it necessarily have all of the infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service.

The government currently does not allow mobile virtual network operators in the country