Tata Teleservices Sunday unveiled an agreement to launch services under the Virgin Mobile brand name, aimed at youth in India.

Tata already offers mobile services in the country using code division multiple access technology.

Virgin Mobile is targeting the country's youth, aged between 15 and 30 years, which are estimated to be around 400 million, Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson told reporters in Mumbai.

Virgin Group will not, however, buy into its own network in India as Vodafone has, nor will it operate as an  mobile virtual network operator. It has a revenue-sharing agreement with Tata for the use of the Virgin Mobile brand. Tata will use its own brand for the mass market and the Virgin brand for the niche youth market.

India added close to 9 million new mobile subscribers in January, taking the total number of wireless subscribers to 242 million, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in Delhi.

The country's booming mobile market is attracting multinational mobile services companies to invest in the market. Vodafone Group, for example, last year acquired a majority stake in Hutchison Essar, a large Indian network operator and services provider, that was later renamed as Vodafone Essar.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.