First international telecom venture launched in India

BANGALORE, INDIA: In a momentous decision that can be a game changer in India’s burgeoning telecom sector, two of the most renowned names in their category joined hands to launch a new telecom venture in India. Munoth group, a leading business house with interests in telecom and financial services and the G’ Five group recognized amongst the top ten mobile handset companies globally, today announced their new JV in India.

The new joint venture, Munoth G’ Five Telecom Limited has been set up with a clear mandate to operate across three core areas in the telecom business in India as well as in international markets.
* Handsets and Smart Communication device.
* VAS services.
* MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator).

Both the groups bring in unique strengths into the venture to create a nimble and aggressive entity with game changing differentiators across the telecom value chain straddling Devices, Services and Technology. With demand pegged at over 200 million handsets the Indian telecom market presents huge opportunities matching global scales in terms of numbers, technology and services.

Host to the world’s youngest population with a growing disposable income, Indians have of late been adapting to smart phones and tablets as their preferred communication device and with the advent of 3G services making Internet access easy, this is a market waiting for a game changer who can redefine the way devices and communication services will be bought and consumed in the country.

Vikas Munoth, MD of Munoth G’ Five Telecom, said: “This venture brings in the robust product development expertise of G’ Five group and will leverage the decade long Telecom distribution experience of the Munoth group across geographies; we are in the right place, at the right time and with the right partnerships. MGTL is all set to shift the goal post and create new milestone and will be a force to reckon with in its category.”

Winston Zhang, chairman, Munoth G’ Five Telecom, said: “With the clear mandate and focus in the mid and high end consumers, we will be able to bring in world-class products and services to the market. India and South Asian countries represent some of the fastest growing markets in the telecom sector and our experience in global markets will help establish a new emerging telecom brand in these key markets.”

MGTL’s immediate focus is in the devices category and will come out with a wide range of smart touch phones and tablets for the Indian market; in the next three months times these will be launched across key markets to make is a pan India operations. MGTL will soon pan operations across 30 countries globally starting out with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Australia in the immediate business plans.

In the second phase, MGTL looks to enter the lucrative VAS category which is currently pegged at over Rs.15600 crores offering superior VAS services and solutions. This JV will also actively look at backward integration in the near future with an assembly / manufacturing line in India. Also, MGTL will look at forward integration into the telecom space by entering the MVNO category as and when the Government of India allows the MVNO license.

With clear plans across the telecom business value chain, MGTL will marry the typical Indian entrepreneur style with matching Chinese scale and size of operations to create a global telecom venture.