I found this on CNN/Reuters and thought it was interesting. I mean, if it's successful then it will surely spread to the rest of the US. A regular, ordinary Pay As You Go phone...and an alternative perhaps to Trace, especially if the vouchers work the same as here...they <i>never</i> expire and you don't have to use your phone ever so often to keep it active or re-activate it...hmmmmm.
<i><b>Virgin Mobile USA said on Thursday it will begin rolling out its long-anticipated wireless telephone service, targeted at young people under 30, on Sunday, with nationwide distribution expected by the end of August.
The joint venture between Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Corp. will be entering a crowded market that has been seeing slowing subscriber growth and increasing price competition. But Virgin Mobile is betting that its "pay as you go" service will appeal to younger adults, whose needs it says have been largely unserved so far.
"The youth and the prepaid markets are the fattest and juiciest right now," said independent telecommunications analyst Jeff Kagan. "Since that is where Virgin's brand name shines, if any company can make a go of it in a tough wireless marketplace this year, it will be them."
Virgin Mobile will be competing with top nationwide wireless operators which have already begun turning to teens as a new growth market. Verizon Wireless has been aggressively pushing its "Freeup" prepaid plan and Cingular Wireless has been targeting teens with features such as ring tones and games.
Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Britain's Vodafone Group Plc and Cingular Wireless is a venture of SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. .
Sprint is the parent of No. 4 wireless operator Sprint PCS Group , whose network Virgin Mobile will use to provide wireless service.
Virgin Mobile USA said it is launching a pay-as-you-go plan in the United States, which often appeals to teenagers who lack the credit history to sign long-term contracts. The company said it was generally targeting customers aged 15 to 30, with a focus on those aged 18 to 24.
Virgin Mobile USA estimates that only 25 percent of 13-to-24-year-olds own cell phones in the United States compared with 60 to 85 percent in European countries.
The company, which first announced the service last year, aims to provide an easy-to-use, straightforward wireless plan with no contract commitments, simple pricing and features such as ring tones, hip music and text messaging.
The service will be first offered in Sacramento, California, and Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday, and the roll-out is expected to be completed by the end of August.
Virgin Group also has a UK mobile phone joint venture with Deutsche Telekom and a similar business in Australia with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.
Operating as a "virtual operator" on its partner's network, Virgin is able to run its service at a lower cost, and can chase lower-spending customers usually avoided by other operators.
The strategy has helped Virgin attract 1.6 million users in the UK, and it recently doubled its Australian customer base to 200,000 in just six months.
In the United States, Virgin Mobile will charge 25 cents a minute for the first 10 minutes' use of the day, and the service will cost 10 cents a minute after that. Any customer who uses $50 of air time in a month will automatically receive a $10 credit for use in the next month.
Customers will be able to make calls anywhere served by a Sprint PCS or Sprint PCS affiliate network nationwide.
They will be able to replenish their accounts by buying calling cards, registering their credit cards, or signing up for automatic replenishment whenever their balances fall below $5.
"They're bringing very aggressive pricing to lighter users," John Bensche, wireless analyst with Lehman Brothers, said. "This is going to be real interesting. Adding a big new player to the market will be a destabilizing factor that is likely to benefit Sprint but could hurt sentiment on the (wireless) group across the board."
Cell phones and services will be available at more than 11,000 retail locations, including electronics stores like Best Buy Co. Inc. , music outlets including Virgin Group's Megastores and convenience stores such as 7-Eleven Inc.
Virgin Mobile will also offer its phones through Follett college bookstores and discount retailer Target Corp.
The company said it will initially sell two phones, "Party Animal" for $99 and "Super Model" for $129. Both are manufactured by Japan's Kyocera Corp. under an exclusive relationship.</i></b>
Penny
<i><b>Virgin Mobile USA said on Thursday it will begin rolling out its long-anticipated wireless telephone service, targeted at young people under 30, on Sunday, with nationwide distribution expected by the end of August.
The joint venture between Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Corp. will be entering a crowded market that has been seeing slowing subscriber growth and increasing price competition. But Virgin Mobile is betting that its "pay as you go" service will appeal to younger adults, whose needs it says have been largely unserved so far.
"The youth and the prepaid markets are the fattest and juiciest right now," said independent telecommunications analyst Jeff Kagan. "Since that is where Virgin's brand name shines, if any company can make a go of it in a tough wireless marketplace this year, it will be them."
Virgin Mobile will be competing with top nationwide wireless operators which have already begun turning to teens as a new growth market. Verizon Wireless has been aggressively pushing its "Freeup" prepaid plan and Cingular Wireless has been targeting teens with features such as ring tones and games.
Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Britain's Vodafone Group Plc and Cingular Wireless is a venture of SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. .
Sprint is the parent of No. 4 wireless operator Sprint PCS Group , whose network Virgin Mobile will use to provide wireless service.
Virgin Mobile USA said it is launching a pay-as-you-go plan in the United States, which often appeals to teenagers who lack the credit history to sign long-term contracts. The company said it was generally targeting customers aged 15 to 30, with a focus on those aged 18 to 24.
Virgin Mobile USA estimates that only 25 percent of 13-to-24-year-olds own cell phones in the United States compared with 60 to 85 percent in European countries.
The company, which first announced the service last year, aims to provide an easy-to-use, straightforward wireless plan with no contract commitments, simple pricing and features such as ring tones, hip music and text messaging.
The service will be first offered in Sacramento, California, and Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday, and the roll-out is expected to be completed by the end of August.
Virgin Group also has a UK mobile phone joint venture with Deutsche Telekom and a similar business in Australia with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.
Operating as a "virtual operator" on its partner's network, Virgin is able to run its service at a lower cost, and can chase lower-spending customers usually avoided by other operators.
The strategy has helped Virgin attract 1.6 million users in the UK, and it recently doubled its Australian customer base to 200,000 in just six months.
In the United States, Virgin Mobile will charge 25 cents a minute for the first 10 minutes' use of the day, and the service will cost 10 cents a minute after that. Any customer who uses $50 of air time in a month will automatically receive a $10 credit for use in the next month.
Customers will be able to make calls anywhere served by a Sprint PCS or Sprint PCS affiliate network nationwide.
They will be able to replenish their accounts by buying calling cards, registering their credit cards, or signing up for automatic replenishment whenever their balances fall below $5.
"They're bringing very aggressive pricing to lighter users," John Bensche, wireless analyst with Lehman Brothers, said. "This is going to be real interesting. Adding a big new player to the market will be a destabilizing factor that is likely to benefit Sprint but could hurt sentiment on the (wireless) group across the board."
Cell phones and services will be available at more than 11,000 retail locations, including electronics stores like Best Buy Co. Inc. , music outlets including Virgin Group's Megastores and convenience stores such as 7-Eleven Inc.
Virgin Mobile will also offer its phones through Follett college bookstores and discount retailer Target Corp.
The company said it will initially sell two phones, "Party Animal" for $99 and "Super Model" for $129. Both are manufactured by Japan's Kyocera Corp. under an exclusive relationship.</i></b>
Penny
