The first MVNO in the United States was Virgin Mobile USA, LLC, which
was formally announced in October 2001, and launched nationally in
July 2002:
"Virgin Mobile USA, LLC is a joint venture between Sir Richard
Branson's Virgin Group, and Sprint, which operates the largest
all-digital, all-PCS nationwide wireless network. Established in
October 2001, Virgin Mobile is the first mobile virtual network
operator (MVNO) in the United States and is the first U.S. company to
create a step-down price plan with no contracts to sign and no fine
print."
Quick Linq: Carriers
http://www.quicklinq.com/carriers.html
"Launched nationally in July of 2002, Virgin Mobile USA, LLC is the
nation's first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and first wireless
carrier exclusively focused on the youth market. Virgin Mobile is a joint
venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint, which operates
one of the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless networks in
the United States."
PR Newswire
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/11-14-2005/0004215213&EDATE=
It is estimated that there are 12 million to 16 million MVNO
subscribers in the United States today. Approximately 3.6 million of
these are Virgin Mobile subscribers.
"Yankee Group wireless analyst Marina Amoroso estimates that there
will be 29 million U.S. MVNO customers by 2010. That may seem like a
large number in total, but it's actually quite small considering there
are already between 12 million and 16 million MVNO subscribers in the
United States today, based on the subscriber figures that wireless
operators attribute to their wholesale base...
Amoroso believes Virgin Mobile's growth slowed in 2005 and that's why
the company hasn't updated its subscriber numbers. However, she
estimates they likely have about 3.6 million subscribers, a
respectable number in light of continued competition from other
prepaid offerings."
Wireless Week (April 1, 2006)
http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA6321123.html?spacedesc=Features
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "first MVNO" OR "first mobile virtual network
operator" "in the united states"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22first+MVNO%22+OR+%22first+mobile+virtual+network+operator%22+%22in+the+united+states%22
Google Web Search: MVNO OR "mobile virtual network operator" "million
subscribers" "in the united states"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=MVNO+OR+%22mobile+virtual+network+operator%22+%22million+subscribers%22+%22in+the+united+states%22
I hope this is precisely what you need. If anything is unclear or
incomplete, please request clarification; I'll be glad to offer
further assistance before you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
Clarification of Answer by
pinkfreud-ga
on
02 May 2006 12:44 PDT
I've gathered some info for you that I hope will be useful and on
target. Sorry I went off on a tangent before.
Amp'd Mobile was officially launched in December 2005:
"Amp'd Mobile launches
Dec 15 2005 - 07:08 PM ET | MVNO
After months of speculation and hype (not to mention tons of venture
capital dollars), Amp'd Mobile has officially launched. The company is
a mobile virtual network operator using Verizon Wireless' network that
is targeting young people."
MobileTracker
http://www.mobiletracker.net/archives/2005/12/15/ampd-launches
As of mid-April, Amp'd had not yet released subscriber figures:
"Targeting the young adult market with its edgy postpaid offering, the
Amp'd Mobile MVNO made its postpaid debut in late December. Bill
Stone, formerly vice president of strategy, planning, programming and
content at Verizon Wireless, took over as COO of Amp'd Mobile in
January. Stone says he views Amp'd as not just an MVNO but as a mobile
media company. 'We have to be an MVNO to prove the vision and direct
distribution,' Stone says. 'We have a different proposition.'
Basically, Stone asserts that Amp'd Mobile's big value proposition is
its content platform - that includes viral videos, IM and social
networks - and its user interface, which organizes all of the content
in a simple and easy-to-navigate manner...
Although the user interface and platform initially were designed for
Amp'd, Stone says the company plans to eventually take this model and
platform outside the United States and offer it to other carriers and
MVNOs. 'We think we can take Amp'd live and port it across any
platform,' Stone says. In fact, he compares the Amp'd business model
to Qualcomm's early strategy. Qualcomm had to prove its CDMA
technology concept by building a handset business, which it later spun
off into Kyocera Wireless...
In the meantime, Stone says Amp'd must first be a good phone company
and that's where his wireless operator background will come in handy.
Although Amp'd hasn't revealed any specifics of its subscriber
figures, Stone says the company is hitting its target demographic, and
its average revenue per user and data revenue are higher than the
industry average."
Wireless Week
http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA6325368.html?spacedesc=Features
If I can find any unofficial estimates of the number of Amp'd
subscribers, I'll post an update. At the moment, it appears that the
company is not yet ready to release this information.
Best regards,
pinkfreud
|
