Virgin Mobile UK
Encyclopedia
Virgin Mobile UK is a mobile phone
service provider operating in the United Kingdom
. The company was the world's first Mobile Virtual Network Operator
, launched in 1999. Being a virtual operator, Virgin Mobile does not maintain its own network, and instead has contracts to use the existing network of Everything Everywhere
. Virgin Mobile was bought by NTL:Telewest on the 4 April 2006 before joining the quadplay of Virgin Media services when NTL:Telewest rebranded into Virgin Media
on 9 February 2007, with a new logo in-line with Virgin Media
.
) and the Virgin Group
. The joint venture involved leasing network bandwidth from One2One and re-selling it under the Virgin Mobile brand, making it significantly cheaper to run than if Virgin operated its own network infrastructure.
The company reported its first annual profit in 2003, following successful Christmas sales.
In 2004 Deutsche Telecom sold their 50% holding in Virgin Mobile to the Virgin Group, with the agreement that if the company were to become public in the following two and a half years they would receive 25% of the proceeds. The two companies had previously argued over the terms of the agreement made in 1999 and Richard Branson had filed a High Court action against T-Mobile.
Richard Branson had considered making Virgin Mobile public in 2002. Eventually dealing in shares of Virgin Mobile began on 21 July 2004, with 37% of the companies made available for sale as an initial public offering. The remaining shares were held by the Virgin Group. At the time the company had 4.1 million customers, employed 1,400 staff in the UK and the listing valued the company at £500m.
In December 2005 it was announced that Virgin Mobile UK was in talks with NTL:Telewest Incorporated regarding a sale. The combination of Virgin Mobile and NTL:Telewest would create the United Kingdom's first "quadruple play" media company, bringing together TV, broadband internet access
, mobile phone
and fixed-line phone services, and allowing NTL:Telewest to use the Virgin brand.
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:Telewest, 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:Telewest's bid "undervalued the business." Sir Richard Branson
was reported to be confident that a restructured deal could be completed. The offer was increased in January 2006, to £961m, or 372p per share.
On 4 April, 2006, NTL:Telewest Incorporated announced a £962.4m recommended offer for Virgin Mobile. The offer had three options: 372 pence per share in cash; 0.23245 new NTL:Telewest Inc. shares for each Virgin Mobile share, worth 389p; or a 0.18596 of an NTL:Telewest share, and 67p in cash, worth in total 387p.
Branson indicated that he would accept the third option. This led to him receiving at least a 10.1% stake in the newly enlarged NTL:Telewest, and helped to fund the increased 372p per share in cash for the minority shareholders.
The independent directors of Virgin Mobile indicated to NTL:Telewest that they "intended unanimously to recommend that Virgin Mobile shareholders vote in favour of the scheme."
As of 4 July 2006, NTL:Telewest had acquired Virgin Mobile, delisting it from the London Stock Exchange
and leaving Virgin Group with a 10.5% shareholding.
NTL:Telewest rebranded under the Virgin Media
name on 8 February 2007.
and contract airtime as well as mobile phones.
The company also provides mobile broadband services with speeds of up to 7.2Mbps and allowances of 1 and 3GB depending on the chosen package, provided through the Everything Everywhere 3G network. The service includes a Huawei E160 USB modem dongle painted black with a silver Virgin Mobile logo.
Mobile phone and broadband services are also marketed through Virgin Media
and its high street stores.
Since early October 2011, Virgin Mobile customers have been able to use the Orange UK
network where there is no Virgin signal. This followed the merger in 2010 of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK, which lead to some areas losing signal after T-Mobile decommissioned areas which already had Orange coverage.
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
service provider operating in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The company was the world's first Mobile Virtual Network Operator
Mobile virtual network operator
A mobile virtual network operator is a company that provides mobile phone services but does not have its own licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum, nor does it necessarily have all of the infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service...
, launched in 1999. Being a virtual operator, Virgin Mobile does not maintain its own network, and instead has contracts to use the existing network of Everything Everywhere
Everything Everywhere
Everything Everywhere Limited is a mobile network operator and internet service provider company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mobile network operator in the UK, with around 28 million customers...
. Virgin Mobile was bought by NTL:Telewest on the 4 April 2006 before joining the quadplay of Virgin Media services when NTL:Telewest rebranded into Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
on 9 February 2007, with a new logo in-line with Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
.
History
Virgin Mobile was launched in November 1999 as a private joint venture between One2One (later T-MobileT-Mobile
T-Mobile International AG is a German-based holding company for Deutsche Telekom AG's various mobile communications subsidiaries outside Germany. Based in Bonn, Germany, its subsidiaries operate GSM and UMTS-based cellular networks in Europe, the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
) and the Virgin Group
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
. The joint venture involved leasing network bandwidth from One2One and re-selling it under the Virgin Mobile brand, making it significantly cheaper to run than if Virgin operated its own network infrastructure.
The company reported its first annual profit in 2003, following successful Christmas sales.
In 2004 Deutsche Telecom sold their 50% holding in Virgin Mobile to the Virgin Group, with the agreement that if the company were to become public in the following two and a half years they would receive 25% of the proceeds. The two companies had previously argued over the terms of the agreement made in 1999 and Richard Branson had filed a High Court action against T-Mobile.
Richard Branson had considered making Virgin Mobile public in 2002. Eventually dealing in shares of Virgin Mobile began on 21 July 2004, with 37% of the companies made available for sale as an initial public offering. The remaining shares were held by the Virgin Group. At the time the company had 4.1 million customers, employed 1,400 staff in the UK and the listing valued the company at £500m.
Acquisition by NTL:Telewest
Broadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
, mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
and fixed-line phone services, and allowing NTL:Telewest to use the Virgin brand.
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:Telewest, 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:Telewest's bid "undervalued the business." Sir Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
was reported to be confident that a restructured deal could be completed. The offer was increased in January 2006, to £961m, or 372p per share.
On 4 April, 2006, NTL:Telewest Incorporated announced a £962.4m recommended offer for Virgin Mobile. The offer had three options: 372 pence per share in cash; 0.23245 new NTL:Telewest Inc. shares for each Virgin Mobile share, worth 389p; or a 0.18596 of an NTL:Telewest share, and 67p in cash, worth in total 387p.
Branson indicated that he would accept the third option. This led to him receiving at least a 10.1% stake in the newly enlarged NTL:Telewest, and helped to fund the increased 372p per share in cash for the minority shareholders.
The independent directors of Virgin Mobile indicated to NTL:Telewest that they "intended unanimously to recommend that Virgin Mobile shareholders vote in favour of the scheme."
As of 4 July 2006, NTL:Telewest had acquired Virgin Mobile, delisting it from the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and leaving Virgin Group with a 10.5% shareholding.
NTL:Telewest rebranded under the Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
name on 8 February 2007.
Services
Virgin Mobile sells pay as you goPay as you go
Pay as you go may refer to:*PAUG, a structured financial product*"Pay as you go" or "Pay & Go", a general term for the concept of a prepaid mobile phone....
and contract airtime as well as mobile phones.
The company also provides mobile broadband services with speeds of up to 7.2Mbps and allowances of 1 and 3GB depending on the chosen package, provided through the Everything Everywhere 3G network. The service includes a Huawei E160 USB modem dongle painted black with a silver Virgin Mobile logo.
Mobile phone and broadband services are also marketed through Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
and its high street stores.
Since early October 2011, Virgin Mobile customers have been able to use the Orange UK
Orange UK
Orange is a mobile network operator and internet service provider in the United Kingdom, which launched in 1994. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was purchased by France Télécom in 2000, which then adopted the Orange brand for all its other mobile communications activities...
network where there is no Virgin signal. This followed the merger in 2010 of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK, which lead to some areas losing signal after T-Mobile decommissioned areas which already had Orange coverage.