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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cfoe who wrote (11528)	6/11/2001 3:33:09 PM
From: Eric L	Respond to of 196668

re: More on Branson, Virgin Mobile, and pending Sprint PCS deal << I have a lot of faith in Branson and his marketing savvy. He is not putting up $1 billion lightly. >> >> Virgin Mobile Sprinting to U.S. Shores Richard Branson is coming! Richard Branson is coming! Newswires are alive with reports that the British billionaire's Virgin Mobile is nearing a deal with Sprint (NYSE: PCS) to launch a US$1 billion partnership that would bring the Virgin brand to the U.S. cellular market via Sprint's network. Virgin is also close to making Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) a retailing partner in the deal, according to some reports. Reuters, rounding up a flurry of UK stories, reported that Branson has signed a memorandum of understanding with Sprint and will announce the venture in the next couple of weeks. Virgin Mobile spokesperson Steven Day offered a "no comment" to a number of UK news outlets and did not respond to an e-mail from Wireless NewsFactor in time for this story. Sprint spokespersons similarly offered no comment to various media inquiries and did not get back to Wireless NewsFactor before publication. A Virgin Mobile exec did tell the Associated Press that his company and Sprint were "progressing on a deal to launch Virgin Mobile in the U.S.," but apparently provided no details. This, of course, doesn't slow down the media. Not Virgin Territory Despite the clever pun in a number of the media stories, the deal would not quite count as "virgin territory" for Branson. The company has deals like the one rumored with Sprint all over the place. The AP cited Virgin Mobile's similar setups in Britain, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. The New York Times added Israel to that list. In Britain, for instance, Virgin Mobile makes and sells phones with service running over One-2-One, a wireless network owned by Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT). The New York Times reported that deal cost each side $72 million to finance over the last two years -- a far cry from the reported billion Virgin Mobile and Sprint will spend in the United States. Like We Care Whether Branson Is Rich Stories in the United Kingdom focused on the idea that Branson is "mortgaging" his 50 percent share of Virgin Airlines, the flagship of his enormous empire, to put up the cash for the Sprint partnership. While it is arguably quite daring for Branson to put so much of his personal fortune at stake, a complete failure is unlikely to affect either Branson's standard of living or the airline's ability to stay aloft. Perhaps the British, not having suffered through the American dot-com crash, are more easily excited by the idea of vast wealth suddenly vanishing in a bad technology investment. Over here, that's probably on the resume of half the workers at any Kinko's in Silicon Valley. << - Eric -