The Virgin Group has launched a WiMAX network covering 20 cities in Russia via a partnership with Swiss-based telecom holding company Trivon. Branded Virgin Connect but operated by Trivon, the network plans to cover 32 Russian regions – including Moscow, St. Petersburg and the 20 largest cities where it holds WiMAX licenses – and has already started delivering services to customers in the Moscow region, Belgorod, Orenburg and Ufa. The move represents Virgin’s first business in Russia, and the group’s founder, Richard Branson, aims to achieve a 10 percent share of the country’s broadband market within the next five years. The network is targeting residential, SME and larger corporate customers.

The Virgin Group has a high profile in the telecoms space, especially in the mobile arena where it is widely regarded as the world’s most successful MVNO. Its Virgin Mobile USA subsidiary, however, is reportedly looking to dramatically scale down its operations due to a weakening business outlook and is in talks with South Korea’s SK Telecom (SKT) regarding a possible merger with SKT’s own US MVNO, Helio.