UPDATE: While Sprint representatives have confirmed in an emailed statement to
FierceWireless that Virgin Mobile customer accounts will be moved to Boost “beginning on the week” of February 2 to consolidate the “Now Network’s” brands under “one cohesive, efficient and effective prepaid team”, Virgin Group has added an interesting twist to the story by hinting to
The Verge its name might live on in the US wireless landscape after all.
Basically, the Virgin Mobile brand for the US is now returning to its original owner, which may decide to attempt a market comeback at some point in the unspecified future. Of course, all of Virgin Mobile USA’s current customers will be gone by that point, so Virgin Group will need to start from scratch or lend its “valuable brand” to another existing player in the local wireless industry if the decision will be made to “relaunch a modern mobile offer in the US.” The original story follows.
Sprint has been in the news a lot over the last few months, as its very survival seems to hinge on whether or not America’s third-largest wireless service provider will ultimately be allowed to absorb the industry’s current number four.
The move is far from shocking, and if anything, it’s likely to make it easier for Dish to absorb and unite Sprint’s different prepaid divisions. No customers will be abandoned, of course, with Sprint instead planning to transfer everyone to Boost Mobile “beginning in February.” A “comparable or better” Boost service plan will be offered in “most instances” at absolutely no extra cost, and you’ll naturally be allowed to retain your existing phone number.
Basically, the only important change is that PayPal is not supported on Boost Mobile, so you’ll need to choose a different payment method if you currently use that for your Virgin Mobile service.
Founded all the way back in 2001 as a joint venture between Sprint and the Richard Branson-owned Virgin Group, Virgin Mobile USA became the sole property of Sprint in 2009. But in recent years, Sprint focused primarily on Boost Mobile in the prepaid landscape, experimenting with an
iPhone-only sales model for Virgin that
failed miserably before gradually reducing its retail presence and marketing budget.
According to GlobalData, Virgin Mobile-supported phones disappeared from Best Buy and Walmart stores in August and October 2019 respectively, foreshadowing the altogether disappearance of the prepaid brand this month.
