Virgin Mobile hails storming quarter

NEWS Virgin Mobile has announced a landmark quarter, hailing the best ever Q2 results in its short history. During the quarter the company enabled 231,554 new connections in the UK, growing its customer base to 2,868,666 as of 30 June 2003. The company has grown its customer base 61 per cent since Q2 2002. The strong growth in customer numbers saw the company return a half-year profit of £37m. Revenue for the quarter was £102.2m. Virgin's growing customer base is a remarkable result in a market where other operators have resigned themselves to chasing more money - or ARPU (average revenue per user) - from existing customers rather than trying to sign up significant numbers of new users. For example, during Q1 2003 Virgin signed up more new customers than O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone combined, though the company's relative youth - it was founded in November 1999 - is doubtless still acting in its favour. Other operators witnessed relatively rapid growth in their infancy before hitting a plateau when the market reached saturation. Because of that saturation Virgin has relied on poaching customers from other networks - luring them away from fixed contracts with its pure pay-as-you-go deals. Such an offering also appeals to the young who represent a huge market for mobile operators but who can't get contract deals. Virgin Mobile's prominent product-placement in its record stores means it has easy access to young consumers and its cheap-rate text message tariffs means it appeals strongly to text-happy teens. A statement from Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson said: "Virgin Mobile is continuing to power ahead - this is yet another landmark quarter. Virgin Mobile has become the people's network; increasingly the mobile service of choice for Britain's consumers - and we are delighted to welcome our new customers aboard. As the UK market has stopped growing, our ongoing dramatic growth reflects Virgin Mobile's attractiveness to switchers."