Virgin Mobile Broadband

Virgin Mobile Broadband

Virgin Mobile Broadband is a service offered by Virgin Mobile USA incorporated which is probably one of the only Wireless Service providers to still be operating under the name which it was incorporated.  The company’s founder Sir Richard Branson founded virgin mobile in October 2001 in Warren, New Jersey.  The company’s other history is rather short since in 2009 the company was acquired lock stock and barrel by Sprint Nextel who previously had owned only 13 percent of the company.

Virgin Mobiles big claim to fame is that none of their cell phone plans or Virgin mobile broadband plans requires any kind of contract to implement.  These plans can be paid month to month and even not used when the owner doesn’t require the service.  As far as coverage goes since you are using Sprints network you will have coverage anywhere Sprint provides coverage.

Virgin Mobile Broadband is called Broadband2Go and is offered in three basic varieties which are as follows.

• $10.00 for 10 days with 100 MB of data usage
• $20.00 per month for 500 MB of data usage
• $50.00 per month for unlimited data with 3G speeds up to 2.5 GB

The draw for Virgin Mobile Broadband is that it is true use when you need it and buy it when you need it service.  The highlights include no service contract or activation fees, buy only what you need and switch plans whenever you want to.  This adds a level of flexibility has not seen with other major providers.

Of additional interest are the devices that are offered by Virgin mobile broadband which are the MiFi 2200 and the Ovation MC760 with the MiFi 2200 being offered at $149, which is at a discount when compared to the other major service providers.  Also gone is any kind of brick and mortar store dedicated to Virgin Mobile broadband sales, all of Virgin’s business is handled through the web, Wal-Mart, Rite Aid, Best Buy, Target and a handful of other retail outlets.

Although the model is an interesting one I have trouble seeing where it is a lasting one.  The Virgin Mobile Broadband unlimited data plan only provides 3G speeds up to 2.5 GB, after that your connection speed can and probably will be throttled back to 2G speeds.  Most of the major providers at least give you 5 GB before cutting you back to a crawl.  As far as the data contract goes with most of the majors as long as you want to pay full boat for your air card they will allow you to carry a month to month contract.  As I know from personal experience with T-Mobile, you not only can carry a month to month contract you can also suspend that account for up to three months at a time (they don’t advertise this folks).  No you can’t suspend it yourself using the Internet, but all takes is a call to your favorite rep at a store to get it taken care of.

Virgin Mobile Broadband can be a great deal if you are a traveler that needs limited Internet access for short periods of time, say 10 days.  Then you can simply pay your 10 bucks and buy a $79.00 Ovation air card and you’re good to go.  Just keep an eye on your usage because 100 MB will not last long.

Virgin Mobile Broadband Video