Virgin Mobile South Africa, the country’s first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has announced that it is aiming to hit the one million subscriber mark within the next three years, BusinessTech reports. Virgin SA CEO Anton Landman was also cited as saying: ‘The management team’s focus is on target segments and niche areas of the market and it is our mission to capture a target of one million subscribers within the next three years. This has proven successful for other Virgin Mobile entities while under the MVNO model’. Although the executive refused to disclose how many subscribers the company has in South Africa, a much-cited figure within the local media currently places the total at around 500,000.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, UK-owned Virgin Mobile signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Cell C in December 2005, creating a Virgin-branded MVNO using Cell C’s GSM network. Virgin Mobile South Africa commercially launched in mid-June 2006, targeting the country’s high-end market. Although Cell C sold its 50% stake in the MVNO for an undisclosed sum in February 2011, the network operator continues to act as Virgin Mobile’s network partner, under an updated network services agreement.