"It's a start within the retail channels, but Virgin Mobile will obviously have to bulk up," Prohm said. Virgin began selling its brand of pre-paid phones on a limited basis beginning June 20, promising a broader rollout sometime in the next few weeks. Virgin Mobile is the first example in the United States of a popular idea elsewhere--the virtual network operator (VNO). Such a company doesn't own a telephone network nor build its own phones, but instead partners with a phone maker and network company. Kyocera built Virgin Mobile's phones, which operate on the Sprint PCS network.

Such arrangements allow companies with a strong brand name to enter into the phone business, even though they have no previous experience, A Virgin Mobile representative was not immediately available for comment, Sir Richard Branson's teen-friendly cell phones are ready to boogie into stores, But Virgin Mobile might pug yoga iphone case have a tough time finding dancing room in a crowded U.S, market, After weeks of slowly letting its products trickle out, Virgin Mobile is expected to announce on Wednesday that its cell phones, "top-up" cards of additional airtime, and accessories are now available nationwide, sources outside of Virgin Mobile said..

CNET también está disponible en español. Don't show this again. "You can count on us," the ad stated. "And since communication is everything, we'd like to take this opportunity to let you know there's never been a better time to choose AT&T. So contact us today and let us find the plan that's right for you.". The ads don't specifically mention WorldCom, which filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, saddled with a $3.85 billion accounting scandal and $32 billion in debt. The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are conducting investigations on the Clinton, Miss.-based company, whose assets include MCI, the country's No. 2 long-distance provider, and UUNet, which carries the bulk of the Internet's traffic.

The bankruptcy filing and investigations sparked concern among many customers, who scrambled last week to find backup providers and create contingency plans pug yoga iphone case in the unlikely event of a total WorldCom collapse, AT&T spokesman John Heath said Tuesday the ads definitely relate to the recent trouble at WorldCom--as well as in the telecommunications sector at large, Also on Tuesday, Lucent announced a $7.91 billion net loss, and the telecommunications equipment maker announced plans to ax 7,000 jobs..

"Our competitors have run into a lot of troubles of late, and we thought it would be good to remind customers that we don't have many of their issues--the accounting problems, the business plan problems," Heath said. "We've got a strong brand and a long history.". Heath would not say how long the advertising campaign would run. Although it did not include any online publications, the newest campaign appeared in all major national and regional newspapers, as well as daily and non-daily publications targeting the Latino market, one of the nation's fastest growing demographic groups.