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The 'Virgin Mobile' logo.
'Virgin Mobile' is a brand used by several
mobile phone service providers operating in the
United Kingdom (UK),
Australia,
Canada,
South Africa, the
United States (US) and
France; the brand was also used for a short period of time in
Singapore. The international Virgin Mobile businesses each act as independent entities, usually in a
partnership between
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and an existing phone company. Virgin Group provides the brand, and the phone company operates the network infrastructure.
Global Network
In the UK, Virgin Mobile uses the
T-Mobile network.
[1] In the US, the
Sprint Nextel system is the carrier.
[2] There is no roaming on to other networks in the United States. In Australia, Virgin Mobile operates on the
Optus network.
[3] In Canada, it uses the
Bell Mobility network.
[4] In France it uses
Orange SA.
[5] Virgin Mobile South Africa uses the
Cell C network for coverage across
South Africa.
[6] These networks use two different mobile telephony standards,
GSM and
CDMA. GSM is used in the UK, South Africa, Australia, and France. CDMA is used in the US and Canada.
In all countries, Virgin Mobile offers prepaid
pay as you go service. In the UK, US, Australia and South Africa, Virgin Mobile also offer a post-paid option to approved customers. Already very common in the UK at the time of Virgin Mobile's launch, prepaid wireless service was a very small part of the US wireless market. Nevertheless, competitive pricing, a "no-frills" approach and award winning customer service ensured a small but significant market share.
Virgin Singapore
Virgin Singapore was launched in October 2001 as a joint venture with Singtel. The operations were closed down by October 2002 after failing to attract a significant number of customers.
Virgin Mobile exits Singapore market
Failure of the joint venture was attributed to a saturated mobile market, Virgin Mobile's positioning as a 'premium' brand.
Virgin's Version
See also
★
Virgin Mobile UK
★
Virgin Mobile Australia
★
Virgin Mobile Canada
★
Virgin Mobile South Africa
★
Virgin Mobile USA
★
Virgin Mobile France
References
1. Blyk's free mobile launch delayed
2. Virgin considers float for Virgin Atlantic
3. Optus Acquires Virgin Mobile Australia
4. Virgin Mobile confirms Canada as its fourth port of call
5. Carphone blames Virgin Mobile for woes
6. Virgin Mobile to enter South Africa under VNO agreement
External links
★
'Official website:' Virgin Mobile