Low cost airlines to increase mobile phone presence

The founder of low-cost airline EasyJet, Stelios Haji-Ioannou's new company, EasyTelecom is expected to offer discount mobile service in Britain some time this year, with plans to expand to the rest of Europe, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Virgin Mobile, part of the Virgin Group, already offers low-rate mobile phone service in Britain and is also looking to expand onto the continent. In addition Ryanair Telecom, the telecommunications spin-off of Ryanair, plans to introduce a similar mobile service from the start of next month.

The new low-cost entrants are termed virtual operators as they buy capacity from existing operators and use the internet as their sole distribution and sales channel, therefore avoiding the costs associated with running a traditional network.