Virgin Mobile, a relatively recent acquisition of Bell Mobility, has finally hooked into the new HSPA network that had been rolled out by its big brother, and is offering a range of high end devices to take advantage. As rumoured, various iPhones and the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold 9700 are now a part of the Virgin Mobile Canada family, and are all ripe for the picking from the online store. The BlackBerry Curve 8530 was also launched, which will use Virgin’s pre-existing CDMA network, and good thing – the GSM equivalent, the 8520, lacked both 3G and GPS. A few mobile broadband products, like an HSPA+ capable Novatel internet stick and Wi-Fi-sharing MiFi are also available, if you’re into that kind of thing. And hey, two-year contracts on all of ‘em, which is something you won’t see a lot of anywhere else in Canada. In any case, Virgin Mobile stands to enjoy a much wider selection of devices now that they’re rocking HSPA, and we’re looking forward to seeing what comes next. 

[via MobileSyrup]

Virgin Mobile Canada’s upcoming devices made an accidental and temporary appearance on their user guides website, showing off the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS (as announced), Blackberry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold 9700, BlackBerry Curve 8530, Samsung M330, Broadband2Go MC998D and the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2372; off-contract pricing is rumoured to be $399 for the 8530, $599 for the 3G and 9700, and $699 for the 3GS. The BlackBerry 8530 is an especially good fit for Virgin, since it was built from scratch with cost in mind, but these are all fairly new devices for a discount carrier like Virgin to be offering. It will be interesting to see just how much they’re willing to subsidize  to maintain that reputation for affordability,unless, of course, Virgin wants to scrap that image and roll with the big boys and carry pricey high-end handsets. If user manuals and the website are already getting prepped, it would be safe to assume that we’ll see most of these handsets within the next month or two on Virgin Mobile, though there’s no new information on release dates.

[via MobileSyrup]

Virgin Media has announced a partnership with HTC in the UK – which in the short-term means the HTC HD2 (1GHz Snapdragon processor, 480×800 pixel screen, 5MP camera, dual LED flash, capacitive screen, WinMo 6.5 Pro) is going to be coming to Virgin Mobile very soon. Even better, it is going to mean other HTC devices come to Virgin as time goes on – which given that HTC have been all over Android recently, could mean Virgin accelerates in to Smartphone territory very quickly!

The HTC HD2, apart from being a touchscreen monster, is also the their first WinMo device to feature ‘Sense’ – which is the HTC UI design philosophy. The HD2 is also stuffed full of social networking apps, as apparently is a requirement on all handsets these days

Jonathan Kini, director of mobile at Virgin Media said, “The HTC HD2 is a stunning handset and the first-ever HTC-branded phone ranged by Virgin Media. Its launch kick starts a new range of high-end handsets coming to Virgin Media, perfect for mobile internet, social networking and entertainment on the go. We are delighted to be able to offer the HD2 through one of the best and most competitive deals in the market.”

Jon French, executive director of HTC UK, Ireland and South Africa, said, “HTC is known for producing great phones that offer consumers a unique mobile experience. Our close relationship with Virgin Media continues to grow, and we are pleased to be able to help it to kick off the New Year with such a fantastic deal.”

I’m now looking forward to seeing what is going to be forthcoming in the Virgin Mobile range, given this news – nice one Virgin!

Today Virgin Mobile Canada released an official statement regarding iPhone availability:

Virgin Mobile Canada will launch iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in Virgin Mobile Retail Stores and online in Canada in the coming months.

I’m not sure if they could have been any more vague… But at least this is an official ‘it’s coming’ statement. My buds over at MobileSyrup believe ‘coming soon’ means February 2010. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, but would be pleased if it does arrive sooner… I mean, the holidays are fast approaching, you think they’d want to cash in on that?

Pricing on the 3G is expected to come in around $100 for the 8GB and $150 for the 16GB. The 3GS should run you $200 for the 16GB and $300 for the 32GB model. Of course, you’ll need to sign the standard Canadian 3-year agreement too. Ugh.

OK Virgin Mobile Canada… Sounds great. But I’ll believe it when I see it. Bring the iPhone… Bring it!

[Via: Newswire]

Remember the other day when I was telling you about a new ‘guarantee’ Virgin Mobile Canada was gearing up for? The new ‘30-Day You’ll Love Us’ guarantee is now in full effect for Canadian mobile goers. The gist of the guarantee? Try out Virgin Mobile and any of their ‘myPlan‘ contracts, and if you don’t love what you get… Return your phone for a full refund (and no cancellation charge). All you have to pay for is the usage on your device within that first 30 days, and any activation charge that may have applied. If there was no activation charge, no worries, no charge.

Key points of the guarantee:

• The phone has to be returned within 30 days of activation
• The phone has to be in like-new condition
• The phone must be brought back with the original packaging and components, along with the receipt, to the store where it was purchased.

For the whole skinny, hit up Virgin Mobile Canada > (You’ll love it)

You gotta love Virgin Mobile and their creative promos. They’re always a bit wacky/off-the-wall, but they seem to work… If nothing else they generate a fair deal of ‘buzz’ in the blogosphere.

Earlier this morning, I read about a new 30-day ‘You’ll Love Us’ Guarantee that Virgin is set to put into action. Basically, the deal is you have 30 days to try out any device on Virgin, and if you ‘haven’t fallen for us in 30 days, just return your phone and pay for the airtime used.’ Interesting. I’ve been with Rogers (NYSE: RCI) for who knows how many years now, and I haven’t fallen in love with them. Not even close. However the bigger concern to me is that if I was to ever fall in love with my wireless provider, wouldn’t that mean I have some larger issues that needed sorting out? Seems like an odd thing to fall in love with. Maybe if I should give Virgin Mobile a spin to see what all the fuss is about?

Key highlights of the new guarantee:

• You have 30- days to return your postpaid phone if you don’t love us!
• Return the phone for refund where it was purchased
• Only pay for the monthly plan charge, overages + activation fees
• No Cancellation fees within 30-days (& no minute counting)

A new site is going live for this one tomorrow, at VirginMobile.ca/loveus. All of the details will be available there. I’ll be sure to pop on over tomorrow to take a look-see and report back to you.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

Tele2 has sold its French MVNO operations to Virgin Mobile for approximately SEK 575 million ($83 million) on a debt and cash free basis. Completion is expected once all the regulatory papers are ready and that’s expected to be completed in the following months.

Under the deal, Virgin Mobile France will get Tele2 France’s approximately 429,000 customers, which will be added to Virgin Mobile’s base of 1.6 million users.

For the record, Tele2 France was a loss-making operation for Tele2. And in case you’re wondering, Virgin Mobile France is an MVNO formed as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Carphone Warehouse.

[Via: CellularNews]

In a team-up with StudentAwards.com, Virgin Mobile has launched the ‘Be Fearless’ Scholarship Awards program in Canada. It’s a back-to-school promo featuring 2 grand prizes of $1,000 each! Not bad!

To qualify, all students need to do is sign up and confirm. You must be at least 17 years old, and reside in BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Newfoundland. Sorry to all the folks in the Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and PEI. No doing there.

For all the details hit up VirginMobile.ca.

Note: The application deadline is set for September 15th.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

Here’s a bit of good news for text message power-users out there on a budget. The texting-friendly QWERTY slider LG Rumor2 is now available from prepaid carrier Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM). Sprint (NYSE: S) already offers the LG Rumor2, and now that it plans to acquire Virgin Mobile USA, the two carriers will give customers a choice when it comes to buying a Rumor2 – prepaid through Sprint or wireless contract through Virgin.

The LG Rumor2’s QVGA 240 x 320 screen, 1.3 megapixel camera, and Stereo Bluetooth support puts the text messaging handset firmly in low- to mid-end territory – which is perfect for text-happy teens. And, with Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps for Mobile and the Opera Mini web browser pre-loaded onto the phone, the LG Rumor2 should keep you well connected.

Virgin Mobile USA is offering the LG Rumor2 for $129.99. Radio Shack will kick off exclusive sales in September, with Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Target following in October. The best part? No contract needed.

[Via: LGCentral]

Sprint Nextel is one step closer to gobbling-up prepaid US wireless carrier Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM). Following Sprint (NYSE: S)’s July 28th announcement that it would acquire Virgin Mobile USA for $483 million, the FTC has given the No. 3 US carrier the thumbs-up on the buy-out. The Federal Trade Commission announced Monday that it had ended their review of Sprint Nextel’s Virgin Mobile USA deal, citing no objections to the deal. The FCC has yet to approve the deal.

Sprint Nextel, which already owns a 13.1% stake in Virgin Mobile USA, stands to gain some 5.2 million additional subscribers from the deal. Virgin Mobile’s strength in prepaid wireless service would give Sprint an upper hand in the growing no-contract market. Indeed, Sprint’s prepaid arm, Boost Mobile, has been doing well for itself since it launched its $50 unlimited calling plan. Adding Virgin Mobile into the mix would only make Sprint stronger in that segment.

Now that the FTC is on board, the next step is to clear the FCC’s review process. Which, according to analysts “will take some time.”

[AP via: MobileBurn]