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Virgin talks to MTV
By: Oliver Thylmann, Thursday, 25.07.02 10:11 GMT

Music giant Virgin Group has bared it all, and is teaming up with MTV Networks to provide teen-targeted mobile phone services and content.

Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, yesterday unveiled Virgin Mobile USA's national, youth-focused cell phone service and its partnership with MTV Networks at Times Square in New York, and he did so wearing nothing more than a mock cell phone to show that Virgin Mobile USA has "nothing to hide." American youths seems to be using cell phones a lot less than their European counterparts, a fact that Virgin wants to change.

Virgin Mobile USA is aiming at the youth market with hipper phones and a content deal with MTV.

Virgin Mobile USA will be offering service through Sprint and is the first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the US, meaning an operator that does not have it's own network but rather buys air time from another operator. Analysts predict that there will be a lot more MVNOs in the future, especially around specialized 3G services.

Virgin Mobile's service includes long distance, voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, text messaging and directory assistance and their cell phones are now available at Best Buy, Circuit City, Media Play, Sam Goody, Target Stores and Virgin Megastores. The Company's Top-Up cards, which buy air time without the need for a contract, are also available at Circle K and 7-Eleven stores.

As MTV is owned by Viacom, which also owns VH1, CMT, Nickelodeon, and several other networks and studios, the deal also includes content from VH1, CMT, and Nickelodeon. Beginning later this summer, MTV Networks and Virgin Mobile plans to start rolling out a wide variety of branded content, including games, graphics, ringtones, text alerts and voicemails.

The services include interactive voting and text messaging, allowing customers to vote for their favorite videos from music programming like MTV's "Total Request Live" and send shout-out messages to air on shows like CMT's "Most Wanted Live." Customers also will be able to receive news about the latest happenings in the music scene on their phones as well as get new games with characters like Nickelodeon cartoon star Spongebob Squarepants.

The Virgin Mobile phones also allow for a rescue ring to be scheduled which will result in a call at an appointed time, which Virgin claims is a wonderful to break up an unwanted date. And of course, Virgin Mobile plans to integrate m-commerce capabilities so that its customers will be able to purchase the latest CDs.

Interested phone users can sign up at the new Virgin Mobile web site, or call what Virgin calls their "Virgin Mobile Central Intelligence Number" at 1-888-322-1122.
http://www.infosync.no/news/2002/n/2103.html
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