Virgin Mobile USA files for IPO

Virgin Mobile USA has filed for an initial public offering, valued at as much as $467.5 million. The IPO will float 42.8 percent of the youth-focused MVNO, making available 27.5 million Class A common shares at $15 to $17 each--while Virgin Mobile USA plans to sell about 25.6 million shares, stockholders Best Buy and Sprint Ventures will liquidate an additional 1.95 million. Underwritten by Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, the offering will drop Virgin Mobile's stake in the venture from 47 percent to 35.7 percent and trim Sprint's stake from 47 percent to 17.2 percent.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, proceeds are earmarked to repay debt and for general purposes. For the six-month period ending in June, Virgin Mobile USA reported adjusted earnings of $29.3 million on revenue of $667 million. The MVNO plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "VM."

Virgin Mobile TV sputters; more handsets planned

Virgin Mobile TV, touted as the U.K.'s first mobile television service upon its October 2006 launch, is so far proving a bust with consumers despite a £2.5 million advertising campaign. The Guardian reports Virgin Mobile has sold far fewer than 10,000 Lobster handsets, presently the operator's only commercial device compatible with the mobile TV service--in response Virgin Mobile slashed the Lobster's price from £199.99 to £99.99, with pre-pay subscribers also receiving a free 90-day VMTV trial. According to The Guardian, rival British carriers contend that Virgin Mobile programming is too limited, comprising only simulcasts of BBC1, ITV1, Channel 4, E4 and ITN News; while a London trial group watched an average of 66 minutes of VMTV programming per week, a subsequent trial launched by rival O2, featuring 16 different channels, generated average mobile TV viewing of four hours per week.

Virgin Mobile UK CEO Alan Gow acknowledged to The Guardian that the decision to launch only the Lobster phone hampered the service, and said the operator is planning to introduce a variety of new mobile TV handsets later this year. "Handsets are a fashion device and become unfashionable fairly rapidly and this one is approaching the end of its cycle," Gow said. Fair enough, but if these new and improved handsets are limited to the same five channels that currently make up the VMTV programming slate, it's difficult to imagine a significant shift in subscriber thinking.