Rumours of the demise of Virgin Mobile which began circulating in April have been confirmed today with Optus confirming that the Virgin Mobile brand will be phased out over the next two years.
Virgin Mobile first launched in Australia in 2000, as a partnership between Richard Branson owned Virgin Mobile UK and Optus. Optus purchased Richard Branson’s share of the Virgin Mobile brand back in 2006 and has operated it as a wholly owned subsidiary of Optus ever since.
Optus themselves are a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore based telecommunications company Singtel and are currently the second largest telco in Australia.
An Optus spokesperson has said that Virgin Mobile customers will be able to continue using their service, which operates on the Optus network. Optus will be getting in contact with Virgin Mobile customers in the coming days to let them know what their options are moving forward.
The move to bring Virgin Mobile customers under the Optus branding, with a single marketing and support infrastructure makes a lot of good business sense.
For Virgin Mobile Staff working behind the scenes and at the 35 Virgin Mobile locations across Australia, an Optus Spokesperson said
Our policy is always to talk to those who may be impacted by these changes first. Any potential options for redeployment within the wider Optus business will be discussed with affected individuals at that time.
The Virgin Mobile Australia website is, at this time, still up and running, with no mention of the impending phasing out of the brand. You can still purchase pre, or post-paid mobile plans on month-to-month, 12 or 24 month contracts but if you do, you’ll have Optus in contact with you to discuss options soon.
Are you a Virgin Mobile customer? What are your thoughts?
