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Bell offically takes over Virgin, goodnight Solo Mobile
Virgin Mobile is now officially part of Bell as they’ve completed the $142-million acquisition. Bell already had a 50% stake in their business but wanted the other 50% and now retains all long-term rights and benefits of the Virgin Mobile… such as the very popular Virgin Festival.
This is also good news as Virgin will continue to get better devices at a faster time period. Over the past couple months we’ve seen them launch the BlackBerry Pearl Flip, LG Rumour2 and Samsung Vice. In addition, apart from the Virgin kiosks and online, you’ll be able to get the devices from the recent Bell acquisition of The Source starting January 2010.
George Cope, President and CEO of Bell and BCE also announced a new President of Virgin Mobile has been named, Robert Blumenthal replaces Andrew Black. Blumenthal stated “I’m thrilled to be joining the Virgin Mobile Canada team as we build on our rewarding relationship with Bell Mobility and begin a new one with The Source. We think Virgin Mobile’s youth-oriented brand fits very well with The Source’s focus on young and tech-savvy consumers. On behalf of the entire Virgin Mobile Canada team, I would also like to thank Andrew Black for leading our organization to its position as the wireless brand of choice for youth in Canada. We look forward to building on that success as we enter a new era of wireless competition and opportunity.”
We’ve said this before… but with this now final you can start counting down the days that Solo Mobile is put to bed. No need for 3 wireless brands under one carriers name and also no mention of Solo being sold at The Source locations. Thanks for the time Solo.
[Source]
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6 comments for “Bell offically takes over Virgin, goodnight Solo Mobile”
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And the competition gets less and less.
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You guys keep saying goodbye Solo, but do you have any actual evidence that it’s going away?
It might make sense to you for Bell to scrap Solo, but I’d imagine there would be quite a bit of work involved in switching over all the existing Solo customers to Virgin, handling all the existing Solo staff, existing Solo ads and branding, relationships with retailers selling Solo, etc.
Just because you think Bell doesn’t need two value brands doesn’t make it a for sure thing like you are acting as if it is.
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I don’t think Solo is redundant. This is very much like many products you find in grocery stores. Do we really need 37 types of bathroom paper? I’ll bet there are only 2 or 3 manufacturers. They just want to fill up as much shelf space as possible.
What concerns me though is that Virgin was rated No. 1 in last Jan. Consumer Report on Canadian cell phone providers, while Bell was at the very bottom –just below Rogers (if you can believe that!).
Will Bell take Virgin down to the gutter now that it is taking over? Time will tell.
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WTF I liked Virgin because it was separate from the 3 big bad companies…. I hate Rogers, Bell and Telus and there evil little clones, now there is no way to stay away from there ridiculous over priced phone plans! Its just a matter of time before Bell rapes Virgin customers! Is there any hope for Canada to have a separate independent cell phone company now? I don’t care about the new fancy phones, I just want to be able to have cell service under a hundred dollars a month!
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Well, Solo isnt going anywhere soon, Ive talked to my Sales Representative and some other ones and they say statistically, Solo Mobile is what the majority of their sales are from, As a result, Bell will keep Solo Mobile even after the 3G-4G transition in January of 2010, SO its not Good night solo, more like GOOD MORNING since solo will carry GSM phones as well, The iPhone a newer 3.5G model may be released on Solo, Although the definite fact is the 3GS will be released on Telus and the iPhone 3G would be slightly changed and taliored for Bells Needs.
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Im sorry Sophia… I dont normally call people out – but what you said was the stupiest thing I have heard in my life. No offence. I have worked in the cell phone industry for 6 years now and YES i understand what you are saying about there only being 3 major players in Canada for cell phones… but thats the how money is made (hence the toilet paper comment). But to say that Bell is going to corrupt Virgin Mobile so that people are going to pay over 100 bucks a month… you are obviously on the wrong plan. You can go to almost any cell phone company and IF you are placed on a plan that ACTUALLY suits your needs – you will not be spending a 100 bucks.
And as for this entire article. Solo Mobile is definitely not going anywhere. Bell created and launched Solo. They then bought out Virgin. Why would they ever shut down Solo? As mentioned in another thread, Solo is sold 40% of the time in Bell stores alone. That is not something Bell is going to give up.
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