Virgin Mobile
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Virgin Mobile Ltd is a mobile phone service provider operating in the UK, Australia, Canada, the U.S. and France. It is a susiduary of NTL incorporated.
The company was the world's first Mobile Virtual Network Operator, launched in the UK in 1999. It does not maintain its own network, and instead has contracts to use the existing network(s) of other providers. In the UK, Virgin Mobile uses the T-Mobile network. In the U.S., the Sprint CDMA network is the carrier. In Australia, Virgin Mobile operates on the Optus network. In Canada, it uses the Bell Mobility network. In France it uses Orange. These networks use different technology (GSM in the UK, Australia, and France and CDMA in the U.S. and Canada).
It has reached an agreement with Cell C, the third cellular network operator in South Africa, to launch a similar service there. [link]
In all countries, Virgin Mobile offers prepaid pay as you go (phone) service. In the UK and Australia, Virgin Mobile also offer a "pay monthly" option, which allows users to pay for bills in arrears. Already very common in Britain at the time of Virgin Mobile's launch, prepaid wireless service was a very small part of the U.S. wireless market (and is still, in terms of market share, much less common compared to Europe).
In 2004, the Virgin Group floated Virgin Mobile on the London Stock Exchange, retaining a 72% stake.
NTL merger
In December 2005 it was announced that Virgin Mobile was in talks with NTL regarding a merger. The new company would be branded under the Virgin Group brand. A merger of Virgin and NTL would create the UK's first "quadruple play" media company, bringing together TV, internet broadband, mobile phone and fixed-line phone services.Under the deal, Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson was understood to be planning to swap his controlling 72% stake in Virgin Mobile for a 14% holding in NTL, which would make the billionaire entrepreneur the biggest single shareholder in the combined group, and give him a share of future revenues.
The original bid of £817 million ($1.4 billion) was rejected by Virgin Mobile's independent directors, who took the view that NTL's bid "undervalued the business". Sir Richard Branson was reported to be confident that a re-structured deal can be completed.
The offer was increased in January 2006, to £961m, or 372p per share.
On April 4, 2006, NTL Incorporated announced a £962.4m recommended offer for Virgin Mobile. The offer will have three options: 372 pence per share in cash; 0.23245 new NTL Inc. shares for each Virgin Mobile share, worth 389p; or a 0.18596 of an NTL share, and 67p in cash, worth in total 387p.
Branson indicated that he would accept the third option. This lead to him receiving at least a 10.1% stake in the newly enlarged NTL, and helped to fund the increased 372p per share in cash for the minority shareholders.
The independent directors of Virgin Mobile indicated to NTL that thet "intended unanimously to recommend that Virgin Mobile shareholders vote in favour of the scheme".
As of the 4th of July NTL had acquired virgin mobile delisting it from the london stock exchange. In the comning months NTL will extend the virgin brand across its business.
Virgin Mobile UK
In the UK Virgin Mobile was launched as the world's first Mobile Virtual Network Operator in November 1999, and has over 5 million customers.Costs
Standard tariffInternational calls
Calls to Virgin phones From a BT fixed line, the following charges apply: (approximately)
| UK mobile phone companies | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile | Vodafone | O2 | Orange | 3 | |||
| Mobile Virtual Network Operators: BT Mobile | easyMobile | Fresh Mobile | M&S Mobile Mobile World | TalkTalk | Tesco Mobile | Virgin Mobile | |||
Virgin Mobile USA
Virgin Mobile USA is the U.S. subsidiary of the UK's Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile USA uses Sprint's CDMA-based PCS network. Virgin Mobile USA began operating in the summer of 2002 and was one of the first companies in the United States to offer prepaid cellular service, and was the first prepaid-only provider. As of December 2005, Virgin Mobile USA had over 3.6 million users.The corporate office of Virgin Mobile USA, LLC, is located in Warren, New Jersey. The IT offices are located in Walnut Creek, CA. Customer services are handled at its two call centers (known as "Virgin Mobile At Your Service", originally called "Virgin Mobile Central Intelligence") in Spokane, Washington and Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Handsets and prepaid cards are sold through various retail outlets, such as the Target, Radio Shack, Sprint Store and major grocery and drug store chains such as Kroger, Safeway, Walgreens and Rite Aid. Additionally, existing Virgin Mobile USA customers can purchase prepaid airtime at select bank ATMs using a credit, debit or cash card. Virgin Mobile USA does not maintain its own retail stores.
Costs
There are three Virgin Mobile plans to choose from. The cost differs for each. Unlike in the UK, there is a minimum spending requirement of $20 every 90 days, or a recharge of at least $90 within three consecutive days for a "service preserver" plan that will extend the account expiration for one full year. If you register a credit card and auto top-up, you can pay $15 every 90 days instead. As is usual in the USA, users pay both to place and receive calls; however, unlike some other prepaid mobile carriers, there is no charge if the incoming calls are picked up by the voicemail service and if one checks voicemail messages from a landline or another mobile phone.By the Minute — Minutes are 18 cents apiece as of 6/14/06, no discount for more than ten minutes, as stated below.
By the Month — This plan allows for users to pay a specific amount at the beginning of the month for a certain amount of minutes
| Price | Anytime Minutes | Nights and Weekends |
|---|---|---|
| .99 | 100 | N/A
|
| .99 | 200 | N/A
|
| .99 | 300 | 1000
|
| .99 | 400 | Unlimited
|
| .99 | 600 | Unlimited
|
- Each call over is $0.18/minute, billed in increments of $4.50 each (blocks of 25 minutes each).
- There is also a $6.99/month plan where all calls are $0.10/minute.
Text and picture messages
By the Text — Text messages are 5 cents to send and 5 cents to receive.By the Month — Starting in June 2006, there will be text message plans where you can get up to 1000 messages for a one time fee.
| Price | # of Messages |
|---|---|
| .99 | 50
|
| .99 | 200
|
| .99 | 1000
|
- Each text additional is $0.05.
Now with VirginXL, the Audiovox Snapper, the Kyocera Switch_Back, Kyocera Slider Sonic, and the Audiovox Flasher V7 phone owners can use AIM. It costs $3.99 a month for 150 messages. If all 150 are used up before a month, 50 more can be added for $0.99 more.
- Picture messages still cost $0.25 to send and receive, however there is a summer promotion in which picture messages will cost [to send and receive] to both Virgin and non-Virgin users.
Wireless data
VirginXL is Virgin Mobile USA's high speed data service. This service utilizes Sprint's PCS CDMA2000 1xRTT network. Features supported include downloadable *[Java] games, screensavers, wallpapers, and ringtones, *MTV content, Comedy Central content, rescue ring, wake-up calls, SpongeBob content, and the hitlist.The phones that can utilize VirginXL service are the Audiovox 8910/Flasher V7, the Audiovox Snapper, and the Kyocera's K10 Royale, Switch_Back, and Slider Sonic. All other Virgin Mobile USA phones at the moment use the slower VirginXtras portal.
On August 2 2005, Virgin Mobile launched web browsing capabilities for customers with VirginXL compatible phones. It is charged at $1.00 for unlimited access for 24 hours, or 500 kilobytes, which ever comes first. You may pay another $1.00 to purchase an additional 500 kilobytes of data if you exhaust the first 500 kilobytes within the 24 hour period.
As of August 2005, Virgin Mobile is charging a 10¢/day fee for access to Virgin Xtras. After downloading a ringtone, be sure to turn VirginXtras OFF otherwise you will be charged this fee daily.
Sugar Mama
Virgin Mobile launched a program called Sugar Mama (using a name that will try to attract teen audiences) to give free airtime to users who watch their sponsor advertisements or complete surveys. They reward 1 minute of airtime for every ad watched and you can earn up to 75 minutes of airtime a month from Sugar Mama.Virgin Mobile Australia
Virgin Mobile Australia operates a Virtual mobile network, using Optus towers. This means that Optus is only used for network performance, not for features such as message centers or access points. Virgin also do all their own billing services, this distinguishing them from just network resellers who rely on the host network to do all these. Richard Branson recently sold his share in the company and is now 100% owned by Optus. Virgin Mobile's marketing has been aimed at the younger demographic, using advertising campaigns featuring characters such as "5 cent" (a parody of rap artist 50 cent). Virgin Mobile offers prepaid, monthly plans and cap-plans.Costs
Standard voice call rates cover all national landline and mobile numbers and 13 numbers, but don't include 12, 18, 19 numbers, satellite and international calls. Calls are either charged per second, or in 30 second blocks, depending on the plan. Voicemail is free within Australia for all plans. No Australian carrier, including Virgin Mobile, charges users for receiving calls. A 25¢ call connection fee (also known as a flagfall) applies to all calls. All prices are in $AU and include GST. Virgin2Virgin rates are included with all plans unless otherwise stated and apply when one Virgin phone calls another.Virgin2Virgin Voice calls are charged at 5¢ per minute (free to receive) Standard text (up to 160 characters) are charged at 5c MMS are charged at 25¢
Prepaid Virgin Mobile Australia prepaid vouchers start to expire from the day they are 'activated'. This is the day on which the voucher credit is first used, not the day the voucher is loaded into the phone. This means a voucher can sit on a phone unused indefinitely and not expire. Once activated, the voucher will expire after a set number of days, regardless of whether the phone is topped up with a new voucher.
$15 Recharge Call credits expire after 180 days Standard calls to non-virgin phones are charged at 35¢ / 30 sec Standard text (up to 160 characters) are charged at 25¢ MMS are charged at 60¢
$30 Recharge Call credits expire after 180 days Standard calls to non-virgin phones are charged at 30¢ / 30 sec Standard text (up to 160 characters) are charged at 25¢ MMS are charged at 60¢
$50 Recharge Call credits expire after 365 days Standard calls to non-virgin phones are charged at 28¢ / 30 sec Standard text (up to 160 characters) are charged at 25¢ MMS are charged at 60¢
$100 Recharge Call credits expire after 365 days Standard calls to non-virgin phones are charged at 26¢ / 30 sec Standard text (up to 160 characters) are charged at 25¢ MMS are charged at 60¢
$25 Motor Mouth Recharge Call credits expire after 30 days. There are no Virgin2Virgin rates with this voucher. Standard calls to all phones are charged at 10¢ / min Standard text (up to 160 characters) are charged at 25¢ MMS are charged at 60¢
$25 Message Monster Recharge Call credits expire after 30 days . There are no Virgin2Virgin rates with this voucher. Standard calls to all phones are charged at 60¢ / min Standard text (up to 160 characters) are charged at 10¢ MMS are charged at 60¢
Post-paid All Post-paid plans have a standard call rate or 35¢ / 30 secs, with standard text at 25¢.
POU plans POU (Phone on Us) plans come with an amount of included credit equivalent to the minimum spend. Usage beyond this is charged at the standard rates. POU plans come with a free handset; the higher the value of the plan the more expensive handset that is included. Current price points are $15, $20, $30, $45 and $65 per month.
Cap plans Cap plans offer additional value over the minimum spend; for a given minimum spend the user can make calls up to a much higher Cap limit. If the user continues to make calls beyond this limit, they are charged are standard rates. There are no Virgin2Virgin rates included in Cap plans.
More details on current offers can be seen at the [Virgin Mobile Australia website].
Virgin Mobile Canada
The Canadian branch of Virgin Mobile started on March 1, 2005. They launched a large advertising campaign, focused on the 16-25 market, using phrases such as "Don't fall victim to the catch!". Virgin Mobile only sells its Canadian service on a pre-paid basis. VMC is owned 49% by Bell Canada and uses its CDMA service. At the launch event in Toronto's Dundas Square, Sir Richard Branson, the daredevil billionaire and Chair of the Virgin group of companies, descended down a high tension line fixed to a Virgin Mobile billboard. After the action-packed launch event, Sir Richard Branson and Andrew Black, CEO Virgin Mobile Canada, gave a news conference to talk about the launch of Virgin Mobile Canada.Costs
Expiry Of Top-up Cards
At launch Virgin Canada was marketed to the low-income youth market with a youth-oriented advertising campaign. Their unique selling point to this age group was the minimal costs associated with using their service. Top-up cards could be purchased for $15 and would last for a full 120 days, thereby putting the minimum cost of the service at $45 per year. Many people also bought these for emergency phones for cars and other low-use scenarios. The advertising campaign centred around these low costs and the lack of a 'catch'.
Less than 6 months after a heavy Christmas 2005 ad campaign the dates changed, drastically lowering the life of the top-up cards. From June 12, 2006 the $15 cards will only last for 45 days, thereby raising the cost per year to $120, an increase of 166%. The lowest price option is a $100 card that will last the full year, but this still represents an increase of 122%.
Minute 2 Minute Plan
For normal (intra-CITY) calls, it costs $0.25CAD per minute for the first 5 minutes used per day for calls made or received. After that period, the cost is $0.15CAD per minute for the rest of the day.
Day 2 Day Plan
For $0.40CAD per day, all calls made or received (within your local service area) are charged $0.10CAD per minute, any time of day. The $0.40CAD is deducted daily, at approximately 1:00AM - 3:00AM, even on days when the phone is not in use.
All Nighter Plan
For $24.00CAD per month, calls are unlimited from 6:00PM - 5:00AM. After that period, the cost is $0.20CAD per minute. For $7.00CAD extra per month, incoming calls are unlimited.
Others
Long distance (out of city or to the U.S.) calls are charged at an additional $0.25CAD per minute. International calling rates are listed on Virgin Mobile Canada's website, and range from $0.85CAD to $5.00CAD plus applicable airtime.
Text messages are $0.05CAD to send to other Virgin Mobile Canada subscribers, $0.10CAD to send to non Virgin Mobile Canada subscribers in Canada or the U.S., and $0.25CAD to send internationally. Receiving text messages is free. Picture messages are $0.50CAD to send, free to receive.
There are no roaming fees. Top ups last different amounts depending on the top up amount. Virgin Mobile Canada's "days" start at 5:00AM in the timezone you are located in and end at 4:59AM the next day. This is both applicable to voice call fees and wireless data fees.
Wireless data
Virgin Mobile Canada's data service is called VXL. Features supported include downloadable games, screensavers, wallpapers, and ringtones.VXL is available on all Virgin Mobile Canada phones. Viewing the VXL main menu is free, however viewing pages beyond that will cost $0.10CAD per day. Costs for games, ringtones, etc. are available at Virgin Mobile Canada's website.
It should be noted that VXL does not provide access to WAP sites other than those run by Virgin Mobile — in other words, it is presently not possible to use Virgin Mobile phones in Canada to surf the web. There is also no support for instant messaging of any kind (besides SMS/MMS).
List of phones
| Canadian mobile phone companies | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Mobility / Aliant Mobility | DMTS Mobility | Fido | ICE Wireless | KMTS Mobility | MTS Mobility | NorthernTel Mobility | NMI Mobility | Rogers Wireless | SaskTel Mobility | TBayTel Mobility | Telus Mobility | |||
| Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)s: 7-Eleven Wireless | PC Mobile | Primus Canada | SiMPRO | Solo Mobile | Virgin Mobile Canada | |||
| [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit this box] | |||
See also
- Virgin Group
- Chrismahanukwanzakah — This was a fake holiday (an amalgamation of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza) that was the center of a popular Christmas 2004-5 ad campaign in North America.
External links
- [Virgin Mobile]
- [Virgin Mobile Australia]
- [Virgin Mobile Canada]
- [Virgin Mobile UK]
- [Virgin Mobile USA]
- [Virgin Mobile France]
- [virginbrand.com] Unofficial blog of the Virgin Group
- [Virgin Mobile USA Authorized Retailer Program]
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