iPhone only now!

Is Sir Richard Branson's mobile venture in trouble or something, and has become desperate for ideas?

jerrspud said:

and they are still selling top up cards.... for now?

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I would assume they're going to keep selling Top-Up cards for the foreseeable future. I saw a couple VMUCare tweets yesterday that said existing plans "would not change". So, presumably, you can keep your existing plan until your phone breaks, gets lost\stolen, or until it just becomes too old to be useful. Because of that, I'm guessing Top-Up cards will stick around for at least a year, until the Android users start moving to a different carrier.

On a related note, THANKS for doing such a shitty job explaining your new service to existing customers, Virgin Mobile! I was almost in a straight-up panic yesterday, until I found those tweets. Would it have been so effin' hard to send us a text or email or something to let us know what's going to happen to us?

Welp, good ****ing riddance VM. Was never very impressed with their service anyway, especially when they kept claiming there was a problem charging my card when I had an old phone so they could kick me off an old plan I was grandfathered into. Granted I'm sure we'll have plenty of time before they completely phase out current customers on Android, I think I'll be switching to MetroPCS sooner than later. Never owned a single Apple device and never will.

Sprint’s iPhone-only Virgin Mobile strategy will put current Android customers in play

BY MARK DAVIS - The Kansas City Star - JUNE 22, 2017 3:33 PM

Sprint relaunched its struggling Virgin Mobile USA prepaid wireless brand with an iPhone-only offer. The move puts Virgin’s Android fans in play.

Rival prepaid brands such as AT&T’s Cricket and T-Mobile’s MetroPCS will see Virgin customers who prefer the Android operating system to Apple’s iOS as candidates for conversion.

“I expect elevated churn from Virgin’s Android base, which comprises the vast majority of Virgin subscribers,” said Jeffrey Moore, an market analyst with Wave7 Research.

Moore said customers have many wireless choices – Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, Verizon prepaid, AT&T GoPhone, Boost Mobile, Total Wireless, Walmart Family Mobile, and Cricket Wireless – at the Walmart, Best Buy and Target stores where they find Virgin Mobile.

Virgin Mobile CEO Dow Draper said Thursday that he has plans for existing subscribers who prefer Samsung, LG, ZTE, Alcatel or other devices that run on Android.

They can stay on Virgin’s wireless service “as long as we’re around to provide it,” he said.

Expect them to be gone – or converted – before that happens.

The rub will come when they want, or need, to upgrade their phones and hope to stay with Android. Draper said Virgin has thought of that, too.

“We will still have Android devices in national retail through the end of the year,” he said, referring to the Walmart, Best Buy, Target and other outlets that sell Virgin Mobile.

Existing Virgin customers also can upgrade to new Android devices online using the My Account feature at Virgin’s website. Draper said that option will remain open “well into 2018.”

And, Sprint, where Draper also serves as president of prepaid operations, has “some migration strategies” to move Android-determined Virgin customers to Sprint’s Boost Mobile prepaid brand that continues to offer Android devices.

Although Virgin’s iPhone-only shift creates decisions for Android device lovers, Draper said it makes for a “frictionless” choice for new customers.

For starters, they now can sign up for Virgin at Apple retail stores. Buy a new iPhone, get a Virgin SIM card for it and watch the Apple clerk activate service in five minutes, Draper said.

The Virgin Mobile brand’s relaunch comes 18 months after Sprint put a lower emphasis on the slow-selling brand by pulling it out of the network of Boost Mobile stores. Boost has been Sprint’s more successful prepaid wireless brand and competes more directly with T-Mobile’s MetroPCS and AT&T’s Cricket prepaid brands.

Virgin’s iPhone-only strategy also includes only an unlimited data plan, contrasted with a choice in plans previously.

“The plan seems kind of Soviet to me,” Moore said. “Virgin chooses the OEM (phone manufacturer) for you, and Virgin chooses the plan for you.”

Draper said that might be true if customers didn’t have all those other wireless choices in the marketplace.

Moreover, the limited offer chose the options that he said make the happiest customers. Virgin has found that iPhone users stay with Virgin longer and that unlimited text, voice and data customers feel more at ease with using their services than those on limited minutes or data.

“It’s not about dictating,” Draper said. “It’s more about let’s just take away all the pain.”

Draper said also it leaves plenty of room for an admittedly “small fish” to sign up new customers in a large pond. He would not provide a subscriber count for Virgin, though Sprint has said it was the weaker brand in its prepaid offering.

The company’s new offering is packed with promotions called the Virgin Inner Circle. Existing customers who buy a new iPhone will receive 6 months of unlimited talk, text and data for $1 and a number of discounts with other Virgin-branded companies.

New customers who sign up by the end of July will get 12 unlimited months for $1. Normally, Virgin’s unlimited plan will cost $50 a month.

Refurbished iPhones will be available this fall.

Draper became CEO of Virgin Mobile during a shake up of Sprint’s prepaid wireless operations a year ago and more recently returned as president of prepaid. Jim Hyde is president of wholesale and affiliate partnerships.

In addition to the Virgin discounts, Virgin Mobile is donating the value of 10 means to Feeding America with each Inner Circle signing.

Sprint recently offered its own 12-month unlimited data plan for free, requiring customers to bring their own phone and limiting service to online help.

Mark Davis: 816-234-4372, @mdkcstar

http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/technology/article157661129.html

(Also note that Sprint and T-Mobile are in merger talks)

'struggling"

So Sprint owns Virgin, and not Sir Richard Branson?

https://community.virginmobileusa.com/t5/Android-Devices/We-Still-Love-Our-Android-Users/m-p/6068

WE STILL LOVE OUR ANDROID USERS!
Last Wednesday, we announced the introduction of the Inner Circle—an iPhone-exclusive offer. While the Inner Circle plan has been met with great enthusiasm, Virgin Mobile Android customers, we hear your concerns and apologize for any confusion resulting from this new offer.


We intend to support our Android customers with both service and upgrades for the foreseeable future. If you’re a current Android customer, you’ll be able to access Android devices and services by signing into My Account. Online device upgrades for Android customers will be available through mid-2018. Additionally, we’ll support Android in national retail locations (Walmart, Best Buy, etc.) through the end of 2017. We have no plans to discontinue wireless service or support for Android users.


We acknowledge that customers may be concerned about the ability to upgrade their Android device beyond mid-2018. As such, we have partnered with our sister company, award-winning Boost Mobile. Boost Mobile has, and will continue to offer, a robust selection of Android phones and uses the same great network as Virgin Mobile. Later this year, we will offer our customers that prefer Android a simple, hassle-free way to switch over to Boost Mobile. Under this arrangement, most Virgin Mobile customers will be able keep their current plan and phone, or switch to any current Boost Mobile plan and phone, enjoy the same great network, and have access to all the latest and greatest Android phones now and in the future. This offer will be completely optional to Virgin Mobile customers and will be available throughout all of 2018.

jerrspud said:

hmmm... So I can keep my plan on Boost? $35 for 5 gigs.. that's almost double what Boost offers now.
we'll see
https://www.boostmobile.com/#!/shop/plans/monthly-phone-plans/

honestly ...Verizon looks pretty attractive and competitive these days.
https://www.verizonwireless.com/prepaid/

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That's my question, too. Both I and my dad are on the $35/5gb plan. But it doesn't match with any Boost plan.

Under this arrangement, most Virgin Mobile customers will be able keep their current plan and phone, or switch to any current Boost Mobile plan and phone, enjoy the same great network, and have access to all the latest and greatest Android phones now and in the future. This offer will be completely optional to Virgin Mobile customers and will be available throughout all of 2018.

My wife and I have been with Virgin since we got our first phones, way over 10 years now and have all in all been very happy with the service. Having tried using an ipad at work I will not be getting an Iphone, way too frustrating for me, so this kinda sucks. I'd imagine we'll switch to boost at some point.