"The 'Fat Cats' have become 'Copy Cats'," says Virgin Mobile's CEO, Sajeed Sacranie. "They are still nowhere close to offering our value...but at least they are trying, and customers will benefit."
 
"The only reason we do not offer free phones is because we want to be upfront and not hide charges," says Sacranie "In the case of competitors products you often pay through your nose for those so-called 'freebie' mobiles and more besides; the costs are simply covered by your subscription fees and other hidden charges, including exorbitant airtime charges."
 
He says: "Because we do not hide costs and we offer 0% interest on handset instalments - our mobiles should be much cheaper than those 'freebies."
 
Sacranie says since the arrival of Virgin Mobile, the Sunday newspapers have been 'carpet bombed' with advertisements of new products. One of Virgin Mobiles competitors is now offering 'monthly contracts' to new customers and those whose long-term contracts have expired.

"But as usual, there is fine print," says Sacranie. "There are admin fees involved, and you are actually locked in for at least two months. And, of course, those contracts are only available on a few packages."
 
Responding to new offerings of 'per-second billing', Sacranie says that these applies only to a few packages as well. "We offer per-second billing - from the very first second - across all our plans," says Sacranie. "We only have three plans, each with a simple rate. We do not have thousands of variations depending on what time you are calling and what network the person you want to talk to is on. No one beats us when it comes to keeping things simple".