Virgin Mobile: It's Not (Just) the Economy Driving Prepaid
Virgin Mobile’s (VM) chief executive sounded an upbeat note on the prepaid wireless market, as the carrier shed net subscribers but posted a bigger profit.
Prepaid services have gained traction with consumers as a potentially lower-cost alternative to traditional monthly cellphone plans. Virgin Mobile has focused in recent quarters on flat-rate monthly plans, but Dan Schulman, its CEO, said “I do think prepaid is here to stay,” in a conference call with analysts after it reported earnings.
“I do not think that it is just the economic environment that is driving the uptick. I think the economic environment helped to make people aware that prepaid was not just for people who couldn’t move to postpaid,” he added.
