Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Analyst Says Early Sub Figs Look Good for Youth-Oriented BOOST, Virgin Mobile

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 16:09:09 -0500

http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=print_page&articleID=&doc_id=107273

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Analyst Says Early Sub Figs Look Good for Youth-Oriented BOOST, Virgin Mobile

By Wireless Week Staff
November 11, 2002
news@2 direct

Early indications are that two high-profile attempts to
target the youth demographic with wireless services are doing well, according to
one analysis.

Jonathan Atkin, senior telecom services analyst for RBC Capital Markets, says
spot checks indicate that Nextel-backed Boost Mobile joint venture and Virgin
Mobile - which uses the Sprint PCS network - are signing up customers 'at a
fairly rapid clip.'

A new report from RBC says Boost's trial prepaid service using Nextel's iDEN
network in California and Nevada added about 2,800 subscribers to Nextel's sub
base during the third quarter - or more than 90 per day during the initial
offering period.

Also, mobile virtual network operator Virgin Mobile has signed up an
estimated 35,000 prepaid subs since its national launch in August, the report
states.

'Given their still nascent stage of operations, we think these youth-oriented
JVs do not have a material impact on NXTL or PCS financials,' the report reads.
'However, NXTL's majority ownership of the Boost Mobile JV and its consolidation
into NXTL operating and subscriber metrics should result in a more deliberate
expansion into new markets.'

The two ventures are being watched closely by the wireless business, which is
hungry for new markets to penetrate as traditional voice subscribership slows.
The youth demographic is seen as especially ripe for the picking given its
relatively high disposable income and the adaptability of its members to new
technologies.

Nextel has stressed that expansion of Boost into new markets will depend on
the results of its current trial in California and Nevada.
As for Virgin,
Atkin noted he expects the venture to cut its phone prices by $40 in Virgin
stores - making the early models available for $59 and $89 - and to soon
introduce a third Kyocera handset choice.

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