According to Slashgear, Sprint – the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the US – has recently announced that they are acquiring Virgin Mobile USA for $483 million. Virgin Mobile was the last significant MVNO i.e. mobile virtual network operator in existence in the US. They had acquired CDMA rival Helio back in 2008.
With this recent acquisition, Sprint has brought Virgin Mobile under the Sprint umbrella while keeping it as a separate brand. Sprint provides Virgin Mobile USA access to its CDMA network. Virgin Mobile will now be paired with Boost Mobile, which previously was its rival. They will form Sprint’s key entry-level line-up.
According to the deal, Sprint has to pay up all of Virgin Mobile’s debt which is approximately $205 million.
However, this acquisition does not grant Sprint ownership of the Virgin Mobile USA brand. The Virgin Group will continue to license the brand at a cost of $12.7 million for the duration from now until December 31, 2021.
This news seems to suggest that MVNOs seem to be getting less popular and Sprint is going to dominate the MVNO space in the US.