Cheap text messages help increase Virgin Mobile user figures

CHEAP text messages yesterday helped Virgin Mobile to maintain its claim to be Britain’s fastest growing mobile phone operator.

The company attracted 231,554 new customers in April, May and June, a 35% rise on quarterly growth levels seen at the same point in 2002, giving it a total of almost 2.9 million users up 61% on a year ago. The firm, which is a joint venture with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile, said it expected that the growth rate would beat "most, if not all" of its competitors. Other operators are due to issue user figures in the next few days.

However, Virgin's average revenues per user figure fell to £135 from £136 in the first quarter partly as a result of arrangements ahead of a Competition Commission ruling making operators cut termination charges (the amount they charge rival customers to call users of their network).