Narayan AmmachchiVirgin Mobile sold off its Latin American operations to a Dubai-based digital services provider Beyond ONE.
Founded by Richard Branson, Virgin Mobile currently serves more than three million customers in Mexico and Colombia, where it operates on the networks of América Móvil and Tigo.
Virgin launched operations in Chile in 2012. It also expanded to Peru in 2016, and there were reports of an incursion into Ecuador in 2019. Its operations in Peru lasted a bit over a year, though, and there’s no trace of it having an office in Ecuador anymore.
Branson’s business conglomerate ran into trouble in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a devastating blow to his aviation business, forcing him to seek a bailout.
Earlier this year, Branson sold Virgin Mobile’s operations in the Middle East and Africa as well to Beyond ONE, which currently operates in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and Kuwait.
“Our entry into Latin America marks a successful milestone in Beyond ONE’s global ambitions,” said Markus Tagger, Group CEO of Beyond ONE.
“VMLA offers significant growth opportunities with its large user base and footprint, and we are committed to serving and growing with our customers in Mexico, Colombia and beyond,” he added.
Driven by increasing smartphone adoption and video usage, mobile data traffic in Latin America is expected to more than quadruple over the next six years, compared to the global average of triple, from 7.9GB per month to 35GB per month, according to The Mobile Economy 2022 report.
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