issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message this article relies largely or entirely upon a single source . relevant discussion may be found on the talk page . please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources . may 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message virgin mobile australia pty ltd type subsidiary of optus founded 31 october 2000 ; 15 years ago 2000 10 31 headquarters sydney key people david scribner ceo products prepaid and postpaid mobile phones broadband number of employees 400 2014 parent optus website virginmobile.com.au virgin mobile australia vma is a telecommunications company based in sydney . it was founded by richard branson in 2000 and although it became a wholly owned subsidiary of optus in 2006 it maintains its own brand identity customer service management structure and staff . virgin mobile offers prepaid and postpaid mobile phone and mobile broadband services to approximately one million customers in australia . contents 1 history 2 network 3 products 3.1 mobile broadband 4 customer perception 5 marketing 6 corporate sponsorships 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit virgin mobile was founded in october 2000 as a 50 50 business partnership between virgin mobile uk and optus using the optus network infrastructure but with virgin management of all aspects of the customer experience including branding of products customer service and billing . virgin mobile was australia s first mobile virtual network operator . in january 2006 optus bought all other shares in the business and virgin mobile became a wholly owned subsidiary of optus . a long term licensing agreement was established for the business to continue trading under the virgin brand . optus merged virgin mobile with its subsidiaries simplus and m8 in april 2006 . network edit virgin mobile uses the optus network for all of its australian based services . this network reaches 98.5 % of people in australia and operates on the following frequencies 2g 900 mhz 3g single band 2100 mhz 3g dual band 900 mhz & 2100 mhz 4g 1800 mhz 4g plus 2300 mhz products edit virgin mobile sell a number of telecommunications products postpaid i.e. billed monthly mobile phone services prepaid mobile phone services postpaid i.e. billed monthly mobile broadband services prepaid mobile broadband services they offer a range of mobile phones with their plans including products from apple samsung sony htc nokia and others . they also offer sim only services . they sell their products online over the phone and throughout 75 branded retail outlets across australia . mobile broadband edit virgin s wireless broadband service was first launched in 2007 offering a package of 4gb of data at claimed speeds of up to 700kbit s and unlimited phone calls to landlines australia wide as well as virgin mobile mobiles . 1 it uses an option globesurfer 7.2 modem which includes an rj11 jack for the connection of a regular pstn landline telephone an ethernet jack for connection of a computer as well as inbuilt 802.11 g wifi for wireless access by multiple computers . 2 each customer of virgin broadband is assigned a landline phone number on which they can receive incoming calls with callers being charged rates as if they were calling a regular landline number . 3 although the modem accesses the internet and places calls through optus mobile network it must still only be used within a zone around the customer s registered address . according to virgin broadband this is because of rules from the australian communications and media authority that prevent geographic landline numbers from being assigned to mobile services . 1 in late 2007 virgin mobile changed the virgin broadband offer for new customers halving the data allowance to 2gb as well as comprehensively re writing their acceptable use policy . 4 customer perception edit in early 2008 technology media reported that virgin mobile was having difficulty bringing problems with its parent company s network and its modems under control and its customer call centres had wait times of 90 minutes or longer . 5 comments accumulating on customer review websites through 2008 indicate that virgin broadband is failing to deliver on its promises . users cite repeated drop outs on the home phone service poor performance and even complete lack of connection on the internet service and long delays and conflicting information from the customer support line . 6 marketing edit since its inception vma has been associated with several award winning advertising campaigns and is a company connected to a very strong international brand . warren 2004 was a reality style dating ad featuring lovable loser character warren who got interest from a male called richard referencing virgin founder richard branson . won the grand prix lion award at the 2004 cannes lions international advertising festival . 5c campaign 2005 was a musically inspired campaign featuring a character known as 5c a parody of rap artist 50 cent . won the titanium lion award at the 2005 cannes lions international advertising festival . enjoy our rates responsibly campaign 2006 was a guerrilla marketing campaign featuring jason donovan . won a direct marketing gold lion at the 2006 cannes lions international advertising festival . right music wrongs 2009 was an online audience participation campaign featuring vanilla ice . won an online marketing silver lion at the 2009 cannes lions international advertising festival . fair go bro 2013 was an integrated campaign featuring doug pitt brad pitt s brother in an attempt to show that you don t have to be famous to be treated like a star by virgin mobile . won a gold and silver clio best of show and gold at adfest a grand prix and 4xgold at spikes a gold effectiveness lion three silver lions a bronze lion at the 2013 cannes lions international advertising festival . according to marketing media reports it was virgin mobile s most successful campaign to date and the thirteenth most awarded campaign of 2013 . making mobile better 2014 was a campaign run with the idea to make mobile better . with the main statement we re making the mobile industry better by keeping pressure on the big guys and we re making mobile better for all of our customers through innovation and a fairer and better way to do business . 7 the campaign was endorsed by jane lynch corporate sponsorships edit community aid organisation oasis youth support services 2006 v festival australia 2007 2009 the metro theatre in sydney 2009 2012 splendour in the grass music festival 2010 2013 byron bay bluesfest music festival 2012 ben & jerry s open air cinemas 2013 see also edit virgin mobile references edit a b virgin broadband poised to slaughter telstra s landline profits . apc magazine . acp magazines ltd. 26 july 2007 . retrieved 2008 01 22 . in depth review virgin broadband s home hsdpa broadband service . apc magazine . acp magazines ltd. 28 july 2007 . retrieved 2008 01 22 . virgin mobile home broadband and near unlimited calls for 60 . apc magazine . acp magazines ltd. 25 july 2007 . retrieved 2008 01 22 . optus jacks up broadband prices introduces excess usage fees . apc magazine . acp magazines ltd. 4 december 2007 . retrieved 2008 01 22 . virgin broadband expands coverage amid controversy . apc magazine . acp magazines ltd. 22 january 2008 . retrieved 2008 01 22 . virgin broadband . productreview.com.au . 2 september 2008 . retrieved 2008 09 05 . virgin mobile making mobile better . makingmobilebetter.com.au . external links edit virgin mobile australia v t e australian mobile network operators optus mobile telstra mobile vodafone australian mobile virtual network operators amaysim boost crazy john s iinet lycamobile gt mobile lebara savvytel tpg tru virgin mobile v t e virgin mobile brand licensees virgin mobile australia virgin mobile canada virgin mobile chile virgin mobile france virgin mobile india virgin mobile south africa virgin mobile uk virgin mobile usa v t e virgin group assets lifestyle active balloon flights books care casino experience days games gaming health bank pure voucher electric racing wines travel america atlantic vacations virgin australia holdings australia regional virgin samoa tigerair australia cruises galactic holidays travel city direct hotels chicago limited edition natirar necker roof gardens ulusaba limobike oceanic trains west coast east coast music megastores records virgin emi v festival money green fund money uk money australia media connect media ireland mobile uk virgin mobile australia canada chile france india poland south africa usa produced radio uk france canada toronto montreal vancouver calgary edmonton winnipeg london on italy dubai turkey jordan thailand virgin hitz eazy fm lebanon former comics festival north america festival australia heaven ou fm racing f1 radio ottawa uk radio classic groove xtreme v2 records virgin.net defunct brides cars charter cinemas digital digital help drinks cola vodka electronics energy express films interactive limousines little red megastores uk media television money us nigeria northern rock radio free sun trains crosscountry trains expresscoach vie virginware people richard branson nik powell other losing my virginity timeline of richard branson s business ventures unite charity virgin earth challenge ds virgin racing category commons retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title virgin mobile australia & oldid 735632314 categories mobile phone companies of australiacompanies based in sydneycompanies established in 2000mobile virtual network operatorsoptusvirgin mobileaustralian 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