Virgin Mobile USA

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Virgin Mobile USA
Company typeSubsidiary
Industry
  • Wireless communications
  • Entertainment
FoundedOctober 18, 2001; 23 years ago (2001-10-18)
San Francisco, California, United States
Founder
[dubious – discuss]
DefunctJanuary 2020; 4 years ago (2020-01)
FateMerged with Boost Mobile on February 2, 2020 (2020-02-02)[1]
SuccessorBoost Mobile
Headquarters
Kansas City, Missouri
,
United States
Number of locations
  • 40,000 (handset retail partners)
  • 150,000 (Top-Up card retailers)
Area served
  • Contiguous United States
  • Hawaii
  • Puerto Rico
Key people
  • Dow Draper, CEO, Virgin Mobile USA
Products
  • Wireless plan, Mobile phones
Services
  • Inner Circle plan
Number of employees
500 (2009)[citation needed]
ParentSprint Corporation
Subsidiaries
  • Helio (defunct)
  • Virgin Mobile USA, L.P. (defunct)
Websiteboostmobile.com

Virgin Mobile USA was a no-contract Mobile Virtual Network Operator. It used Sprint's network for coverage. It licensed the Virgin Mobile brand from United Kingdom-based Virgin Group. Virgin Mobile USA was headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, and provided service to approximately 6 million customers.[2][3]

Founded in 2001 as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Sprint Corporation, Virgin Mobile USA commenced operations in June 2002 as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), providing services via the Sprint 1900 MHz CDMA network. In 2009, Sprint Nextel bought out joint-venture partner Virgin Group, becoming the sole owner of Virgin Mobile USA.

In June 2017, Virgin Mobile dropped all Android and began to only offer iPhones to new customers under its new "Inner Circle" unlimited plan. Following the discontinuation of the plan in 2018, it began to restore Android devices to its lineup.

In January 2020, Virgin Mobile announced that it would shut down, and transfer its remaining customers to Boost Mobile the following month in preparation for the Sprint and T-Mobile merger.[4]

  1. ^ "Virgin Mobile customers will be moved to Boost Mobile, in anticipation of T-Mobile/Sprint merger". January 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "Jobs At Virgin Mobile". Virgin Mobile USA. Archived from the original on July 4, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
  3. ^ Teather, David (September 21, 2000). "Virgin Mobile plots American invasion". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 3, 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  4. ^ Sprint is killing off Virgin Mobile USA, and Virgin is getting the rights back The Verge. January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2020.