Virgin Group plans to launch branded MVNO services in Latin America. The service will be provided in partnership with wireless communications company Tribe Mobile.

Virgin will launch its first MVNO business in the region within the next 12 to 15 months. The two partners plan to invest around USD 300 million over the next five years to roll out the mobile operations across Latin America, FT reports. Rather than building their own costly networks, the partners will become MVNOs in each market, buying capacity from existing mobile network operators and reselling it as their own branded mobile service. The partnership will be led by Phil Wallace, Tribe Mobile founder and chairman.

Virgin Mobile branded businesses already operate in Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa, the UK and the USA, serving around 15 million mobile subscribers.

Tribe Mobile is best known for establishing MVNO Friendi, which operates in the Middle East and north Africa region. Friendi is based in Dubai and has operations in Oman, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and plans to begin service in other countries in the region by 2012. Virgin and Tribe’s Latin American partnership is also backed by two institutional investors, US-based ePlanet Ventures and Omani Dolphin International, which is also an investor in Friendi.