Virgin Mobile has launched as an MVNO in Qatar via a partnership with incumbent operator Qtel – and hinted that it may expand the agreement to other Qtel markets. “We’re in discussions about doing a similar relationship with them [Qtel] in a lot of other countries they are set up in,” Virgin Mobile founder Richard Branson said in an interview with Zawya Dow Jones this week. Branson was speaking in Doha at a launch event for the prepaid business – known as Virgin Mobile Qatar.

The UK-based MVNO was part of a consortium that lost out to Vodafone in 2007 in the race to acquire Qatar’s second mobile license (Vodafone launched services last year, becoming Qtel’s first mobile competitor). However, Branson played down suggestions that the firm was looking at other license acquisitions in the Middle East. “For us to set up our own network, the economics just wouldn’t make sense whereas piggy backing on their [Qtel] network using the Virgin’s brand and marketing skills works well,” Branson added.

Branson did not name specific markets for future expansion but Qtel has a footprint in 17 countries globally, including Indonesia. In a separate Bloomberg report this week, Qtel CEO Nasser Marafih said the firm was looking at further acquisitions to offset slowing growth and heightened competition in many of its current markets. “We don’t think huge growth is coming for this market, so consolidation is going to take place,” Marafih said. However, he ruled out making a bid for Orascom’s Djezzy network in Algeria, which is currently being targeted by South Africa’s MTN.

Virgin Mobile Qatar will be the Gulf state’s first youth-focused mobile offering. It will offer a simple all-day tariff – eschewing peak and off–peak rates – and provides 180-day airtime, which claims to be the longest-lasting mobile airtime validity in Qatar. Virgin Mobile Qatar will be the eighth Virgin Mobile branded operation in the world, following on from launches in the UK, Australia, USA, Canada, France, South Africa, and India.