OK so virgin mobile is here in India and they have kinda stormed the market with the cool advertisements customized optimally to appeal the youth (see some of them here and here). Interestingly they have come up with a Hinglish punch line to market their services. “THINK HATKE” which would mean think different in English and it’s something that we don’t see too often in Indian mobile market. Almost all the existing cellular operators in India have English punchline. TATA Indicom has “experience the difference” while Vodafone has “make the most of now” , Idea has “what an idea”.

India is the fastest growing mobile market in the world and it’s imminent for any mobile company to be here if they are serious about long term prospects of their company. The mobile penetration in India still needs to catch up and there is ample scope for many more mobile companies. Virgin mobile’s entry can not be termed timely but considering the opportunities ahead it’s not too late either.

Virgin has taken the same route of contracting the networks of existing mobile phone companies and branding it under their umbrella (like in many other markets). In India they have the same kind of relationship with TATA Indicom which means Virgin does not need to establish their own networks (which takes a hell lot of time).

What is interesting (and stupid!) is the focus of Virgin mobile on the Indian youth and not on rural people. The youth is already using some brand while it’s the people in small places where the opportunities are aplenty.

There are already 12 telecom companies providing cellular services in India yet only two of them are using CDMA technology which are also in the process of moving to GSM technology. CDMA tech is definitely better for the telecom companies as it’s relatively cheaper but it takes away the freedom of changing cellphones; something which many young people enjoy. So i am not really very bullish on the idea of CDMA and targeting the youth.

What is good in my viewpoint about the Virgin entry is that it might compel the other celphone operators to improve their services which really needs to be spruced up. I have changed two numbers in last two months because of the poor quality of services I was receiving. I think I need to give Virgin a try. May be.

The stage is set for TATA’s acquisition of Ford’s Jaguar & Rover and make the most of holiday season. Although it has not been said oficially who is the preferred bidder at the time of writing but English Media has given their word for TATA. Britain’s largest manufacturing union has already shown its inclination for TATA because of their manufacturing background. With upto 40,000 jobs at stake the backing of union seems crucial and decisive. Other competitors in the fray are Mahindra & Mahindra ,another indian automobile group and One Equity Partners,a JP Morgan owned buyout group led by former Ford chief executive Jac Nasser. Tata’s bid has been estimated to be around 2 billion dollars which is much less than the price of 5.25 billion dollars blue oval had paid to buy both brands almost a decade back while Merill Lynch had suggested 1.5 billion dollars for the two prestigious brands. This deal will do good to everybody if they can manage the intricacies since Ford has it’s business in North America and losses to look after while TATA Motors will become global overnight. It will add two of the most prestigious brands of automobile industry but the challenges ahead are difficult if not impossible for TATA. Jaguar has never seen green ink in its books under the guardianship of Ford while Rover doesn’t seems to be the car of present or future with high gasoline prices. TATA’s can not outsource jobs or move manufacturing out of UK so they’ll have to look for other resources and innovate to keep manufacturing costs down. There are however opportunities which if handled well can turn around things for TATA. There are few models of Jaguar in the pipeline which if they market well,particularly in emerging markets,can help them as Jaguars are not considered ‘reliable’ anymore in Europe and USA. The demand for luxury cars has risen in emerging markets and TATA can utilise this with their existing facilities. FIAT chief Sergio Marchionne recently said to media that Alpha Romeo can benefit from Jaguar’s platform and delearship in USA. FIAT already enjoys close relations with TATA and Jaguar’s delearships in USA have been voted best in a JD Power survey earlier this year. So the challenge lies in utilising opportunities for TATA which they have done before.