Bell Mobility announced the completion of its takeover of Virgin Mobile Canada yesterday, having acquired the portion of the venture it had not already owned for a paltry $142 Million.
So what does this mean for Virgin Mobile subscribers?
Not much, so far, except that it should now be easier to buy new Virgin phones as Bell also completed its purchase of The Source by Circuit City and as part of the deal, Virgin and other Bell brands will be available in those stores.
Not everyone is impressed by this, however, as scans of blogs reveal that many subscribers feel that fees will likely go up. Time will tell if Bell will maintain the level of service and satisfaction that has long been a key element to the Virgin brand.
I for one am a little saddened that Sir Branson will have less influence in our competitive landscape. One of Virgin Mobile’s biggest contributions to our marketplace was advocacy for Local Number Portability – giving consumers the right to keep our phone numbers when we switch wireless or local phone carriers.