Virgin Mobile - Canada's Newest Wireless Carrier; Sort Of

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.virginmobile.ca/web/pages/media_02_e.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.virginmobile.ca/web/pages/media_02_e.htm</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Virgin Mobile came to the rescue of Canadians today with the launch of its mobile service across the country. The company will bring competition back to the market and offer Canadian customers a mobile phone service with no catches: great rates, no hidden fees and no contracts to sign. During an action-packed stunt in downtown Toronto, Virgin Group Chairman and Virgin Mobile Canada founder, Sir Richard Branson, zipped from the skies and crushed the competition in the Virgin Mobile "emergency services" monster truck. Richard Branson freed customers who were chained to long-term contracts, hidden fees and high rates."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Temporale-20050303-VirginMobile.gif" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />First off, I should let everyone know that Virgin Mobile is working as a "Mobile Virtual Network Operator". That means they don't have their own towers. Instead they are using Bell Mobilities network. Bell Mobility runs a CDMA based network, so there is little chance of you getting a Smartphone working on this network. :( Another important detail, is the lack of Data rates. I'm not sure why, but there is no mention of data plans or rates on their website. On the plus side; All of the Virgin Mobile phones are sold <b>without</b> contracts, and the voice plan looks pretty good. 8)

[ctmagnus]

Bah. I have two cellphones: one on Rogers primarily for GPRS access from my Pocket PC (I may switch it to Fido soon as it's unlocked (Thanks, Jason!)) and a Telus phone that I use primarily for WAP access and email checking when I'm away from a computer. Imo, a cell phone without any kind of data access is completely useless in this era.

[Darius Wey]

We've had Virgin Mobile here in Australia for a long time now, and despite all the different rates available, I always seem to end up using Optus. There are numerous carriers here, and one that is worth checking out is Three (http://www.three.com.au/) but I don't think it's available in the US or Canada yet. But for a stable smartphone solution, Telstra (http://www.telstra.com/) or Optus (http://www.optus.com.au/) always seem to deliver the better service.

[Jerry Raia]

Well I really like Three's web site :) Very cool home page.

[yslee]

They didn't last very long here though. The market they're targetting doesn't include us power users I'm sure.

[Janak Parekh]

They didn't last very long here though. The market they're targetting doesn't include us power users I'm sure.
Correct. One look at Virgin Mobile USA's website (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/) will rapidly prove that. Mobile data is not a segment of the market they're targeting, at all, and as such I don't expect any Smartphones on their network either anytime soon.

--janak