Mr Haji-Ioannou: Hoping to take mobile world "by storm"

Reuters news agency said he planned to unveil a low-cost wireless voice and text-messaging service - EasyMobile.

Mr Haji-Ioannou's first revealed his mobile network intentions in February.

EasyMobile is said to have the backing of Danish operator TDC A/S, which will handle customer billing and network operations for the newly formed company

I have now discovered that the best-of-class business model is the one practiced in Denmark where prices for consumers have come down significantly Stelios Haji-Ioannou

The Danish firm owns Telmore, which in the past three years has signed up nearly 500,000 subscribers for services that promise low rates.

EasyMobile plans to cut the costs of gaining new customers by using the Internet rather than retail sales, and plans to sell no phones.

The only products it plans to sell are sim cards, the removable memory card that fits into the back of a mobile phone and contains the user's identity code and relevant personal data.

'Most efficient'

Customers who sign up at a soon-to-be-launched web site will receive an easyTelecom sim card by post.

"I have now discovered that the best-of-class business model is the one practiced in Denmark where prices for consumers have come down significantly," said Mr Haji-Ioannou on a webpage outlining his proposals.

He said: "Selling just sim cards from a website with cheap pre-paid airtime, is the most efficient way to use mobile telephony.

"Internet retailing is about to take the mobile world by storm. We will... launch before the end of the year."

But speaking in February Mr Haji-Ioannou warned it may take some time for the new venture to find its feet.

"Personally, when I invest in an industry, I usually think in terms of decades rather than the next financial quarter," he said.