Both technology bigwigs including Ericsson, the world’s top mobile network gear maker, and Nokia, the largest cellphone maker, have decided to become mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in India.

The companies said that they would shortly start their mobile service in the Indian market.

During the last month (Feb 2009), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given its nod to the recommendation of the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for authorizing MVNOs.

An MVNO does not have its private switching equipment, and provides mobile services under its individual brand by utilizing services of other telecom operators. This is a model, which is well-known in established telecommunications market areas like North America, Europe and East Asia: as done by Virgin Mobile and Qwest.

There is also a rumor that Finnish giant Nokia was making discussions with NTT DoCoMo to allow the cell phone manufacturer to become an MVNO in the Indian market.

On the other hand, Ericsson had a meeting with DoT functionaries to brief them on its MVNO plans.

According to reports, if the two companies (Nokia and Ericsson) manage to gain licenses, it will be a major departure from their business verticals.

A report also claimed that many other companies, which have also shown interest in commencing MVNO services in the Indian market, comprise Telekom Malaysia, Mobile ESPN, BT and ValueFirst.

Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Group, said that Tata has contained the network, Virgin also got the brand and it makes a win-win for these two companies.

In its report, DoT stated that MVNOs would assist telecom operators to develop in the highly advanced Indian segment, the world's second largest.

The report added that the country added a record 15.41 million mobile users to its 12 networks during January 2009, taking the total subscriber base at the end of that month to 362.30 million.