Stelios considering mobile venture

EasyGroup chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou could follow in the footsteps of Richard Branson and launch a mobile phone service in the UK.

The Greek empire-builder - like Branson not known for shunning publicity - is said to have been in talks with the main operators, according to a report in this morning's Wall Street Journal Europe.

Virgin Mobile piggybacks on Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile UK network, which was known as One2One when the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) deal was struck in 1999. It has grown rapidly, regularly topping customer satisfaction league tables, and expanded to the US, though a Singaporean operation didn't prove as successful.

A number of companies, including major retailers, are reselling mobile services, tying them in with other products and marketing them in-store. However, today's report suggests any 'easyMobile' venture would share a principal strategy of most easyGroup businesses: compete on price.