News 2001
Virgin Mobile reaches one million customers
25/06/2001
Fastest growing mobile business ever seen in Britain
Virgin Mobile has acquired its millionth customer, making it the fastest-growing mobile start-up ever seen in the UK, and among the top performers ever in the world, the company announced today. In the 19 months since its launch in November 1999, Virgin Mobile has established itself, through its brand and great value services, as the most radical and successful new venture in telecommunications.
By comparison, it took more than three years for Orange to hit a million customers, One2One in excess of four years, Vodafone more than eight years and Cellnet almost a decade.
| Virgin Mobile | Orange | One2One | Vodafone | Cellnet | |
| Launch date | November 1999 | April 1994 | September 1993 | January 1985 | January 1985 [1] |
| Reached a million by | June 2001 | July 1997 | December 1997 | December 1993 | March 1994 |
| Time taken | 1 year 7 months | 3 years 3 months | 4 years 3 months | 8 years 11 months | 9 years 2 months |
Virgin Mobile has increased its share of market net connections at an average rate of 33% a quarter since launch. Accounting for nearly 6% of all new phones sold, Virgin Mobile has trebled its share of market growth over the past year.
None of the other networks has grown its share of new growth to that extent - over the same period, Orange has increased by 10%, BT Cellnet by 19%, whereas Vodafone has suffered a decrease of 27%, and One2One a decline of 33%. With an average net connection rate of 145,000 a quarter (excluding 28 day returns), Virgin Mobile's rate of growth outperforms any British rival. [2]
This extraordinary expansion, which is bucking the slowdown elsewhere in the sector, has also meant that Virgin Mobile has become one of the top 2% [3] fastest-growing mobile businesses - in terms of zero to one million net customers - ever seen in the world. Only Wind, Blu and Omnitel in Italy, Retevision Movil of Spain, and Viag in Germany have outpaced the rate of growth enjoyed by Virgin Mobile in the UK - but only just! [4]
Virgin Mobile's growth even outperforms entire countries, with all their network customers combined. Poland's networks took over two years to reach a million customers from 1995 to 1998; Romania's took over two years between 1996 and 1999; and Spain grew its mobile users to a million in the two years between 1994 to the end of 1996. [5] The UK itself didn't have a million customers in total until 1990 - over five years after the market started.
Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Mobile, said: "We are delighted with the performance of Virgin Mobile - it has proved itself a tremendously successful business and has added significantly to the strength of the Virgin brand. We've done it with airlines and financial services and now we've revolutionised the mobile phone market. We've made a simple concept - that of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator - into an industry-leading reality. This achievement is all the more remarkable when you consider our sales have come in the main from our customer centre, our web site and our record stores, Megastore, V.SHOP and Our Price. With ever-widening third party retail expansion, we expect our sales volumes to continue to thrive. It's our intention to make Virgin Mobile the first global network; we aim to have businesses in ten countries, and across five continents, within the next year. And we won't stop there!"
Chris Godsmark, telecoms analyst at Investec Henderson Crosthwaite Securities, said: "On any measure Virgin Mobile is by far the world's most successful virtual network operator. More importantly, in terms of scale, brand and customer awareness Virgin Mobile has established itself as a serious challenger to the traditional four UK networks. Given the success of the Virgin Mobile business model in Britain, we expect to see Virgin Mobile continuing to replicate this around the world using its formula of close equity relationships with network partners."
Interestingly, Virgin Mobile has reached more people in just over a year and a half than was originally predicted for the entire mobile industry only 20 years ago. In the early 1980s, AT&T asked the McKinsey consultancy to estimate how many mobile phones they considered would be in use in the world in 2000. McKinsey reported they had "noted all the problems with the new devices - the handsets were absurdly heavy, the batteries kept running out, the coverage was patchy and the cost per minute was exorbitant - and concluded that the total market would be about 900,000." [6]
[1] Cellnet name changed to BTCellnet in May 1999
[2] Network figures EMC database
[3] Source: EMC market data
[4] Rate of growth to one million customers:
Wind: Q1-Q4 1999
Blu: Q2 2000-Q1 2001
Omnitel: Q4 1995-Q2 1997
Retevision Movil: Q1 1999-Q4 1999
Viag: Q4 1998-Q4 1999
[5] GSM Association
[6] The Ecomomist Telecommunications Survey, Adrian Wooldridge Oct 1999
For interviews and further information please contact:
Steven Day, Virgin Mobile: (0) 7931 777 777
Joanne Baker, Virgin Mobile: (0) 7941 233 300
Georgina Annett, Virgin Mobile: (0) 0207 2082 720 / 7941 251 100 Press.office@virginmobile.com
Notes to Editors:
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile (UK) is a 50:50 joint venture company between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Deutsche Telekom's One 2 One, and is the U.K's first mobile virtual operator (MVNO). Since its launch in November 1999 it has attracted one million customers, making it one of the fastest growing mobile phone companies ever.
It has scored a number of firsts, including being the first operator to scrap peak rate calls, introduce a daily discounting tariff, introduce an integrated MP3 mobile phone and is the first operator to introduce a cash back tariff, Big Bonus.
Virgin Mobile is the only network to offer cheap calls and no line rental with no hidden catches and no sting in the tail. Standard calls cost 15p per minute for the first 5 minutes of use each day, and 5p per minute after that, for up to 23 hours 55 minutes each day. There is no line rental fee and no catches, however you choose to pay - you only pay for the calls you make. Voicemail retrieval is free and SMS messages cost 10p per message.
You can also Pay As You Want - by topping up with a voucher or a debit or credit card, or you can pay monthly by direct debit. Either way, you still receive the same great value tariff and no monthly fee.
The Big Bonus scheme entitles customers using £30-worth of calls or more each month to 10% of whatever they spend as an airtime credit the following month. The Big Bonus is available to everyone paying by direct debit, or by pay as you go topping up with either credit or debit card.
VirginXtras is Virgin Mobile's groundbreaking range of value-added and money-saving services. The VirginXtras service helps customers get the information they want, in the most accessible and easy-to-understand way, whether it be via IVR, SMS, voice or WAP, and can be tailor-made to suit each individual. VirginXtras is available to every Virgin Mobile customer and puts service over technology.
Customers logging on to www.virgin.com/mobile simply pre-select areas of interest from seven core categories, including: sport, music, going out, staying in, travel, shopping and fun. So, whether people are after the most recent film releases at their local cinema, discounts on a whole range of items from CDs to holidays, football scores for their favourite team or a recommendation for a night out, VirginXtras offers the easiest way to get the best and latest personalised information
Virgin has already taken the brand overseas with Virgin Mobile (Australia), a partnership with Optus, which opened for business at the end of October 2000. A similar joint-venture between Virgin and Singapore Telecom will see the launch of Virgin Mobile (Asia) later in 2001. The global Virgin Mobile brand is also expected to launch in the USA and Europe within two years. Virgin Mobile has also recently launched in Northern Ireland.
In the UK, Virgin Mobile phones are available direct on 0845 6000 600; on the web at www.virgin.com/mobile; or on the High Street at over 3,500 outlets including Virgin Megastores, Our Price, V Shops and in supermarkets such as Asda, Kwik Save and Sainsbury.
