Virgin Mobile USA Takes ‘TXT’ to the Next Level with Launch of 3jam ‘SMS 2.0’ Service

WARREN,
N.J./ SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Virgin Mobile USA, with more than 4.8 million
customers, today announced the next innovation in one of the world’s
most popular mobile services, text messaging, with the launch of 3jam SMS 2.0.
The new, free-to-join service debuts today and improves basic text
messaging by allowing friends and family to stay connected with group
communication, enabling customers to have multi-party text-message
conversations. The launch marks the first time a U.S. carrier is
introducing multi-party text messaging, thanks to a partnership with
San Francisco-based SMS services firm 3jam.

“At Virgin Mobile, we’re dedicated to delivering services that fit our
customer base, and this new dimension for texting is certainly an ideal
one for our customers who want the simplicity and power of group
texting,” said Dominick Tolli, vice president, Mobile Data Services,
Virgin Mobile USA.

How it works
3jam SMS 2.0 enables Virgin Mobile customers
to send a text message to any number of friends simultaneously, have
everyone know who received the message, and allow subsequent replies to
go to everyone using SMS. The 3jam application is free and requires no
subscription. Standard text messaging rates apply. Virgin Mobile
customers can sign up on the menu of their WAP deck or at www.3jam.com/virgin. The SMS recipients do not need to sign up.

“From a business perspective, our goal at 3jam is to help carriers like
Virgin Mobile increase revenue from text messaging, and we think that
3jam SMS 2.0 has that potential,” said 3jam Founder and CEO Andy Jagoe.

SMS is by far the most popular non-voice service for mobile subscribers
in the U.S., and according to Pamela Clark Dickson of Informa Telecoms
and Media, in 2007 it will generate revenues of $60 billion for
carriers worldwide. According to Gartner Dataquest, the number of SMS
messages will top \n \u003cbr\>\nNick Ingelbrecht, research analyst at Gartner says, “Nobody could have predicted the phenomenal success of SMS, and the race is on to find its successor. Without a doubt, new services are needed, but a clear leader has yet to emerge from the messaging services currently being deployed, such as mobile IM [instant messaging], video messaging, mobile e-mail and unified and integrated messaging.” \u003cbr\>\n \u003cbr\>\nConsumers have shown interest in 3jam’s off-deck service, which, since soft launching in September 2006, has gained hundreds of thousands of monthly active users. These users have discovered \u003ca href\u003d\"http://3jam.com\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\>3jam.com\u003c/a\> and have taken their “txt” to the next level. Currently, 3jam is building a global service for transiting, billing and clearing multi-party SMS messages, with many additional features to be available soon. The service has grown virally to date and was recently recognized as one of CNET Webware’s Top 100 Services of 2007. \u003cbr\>\n \u003cbr\>\n“Our firm has reviewed dozens of mobile 2.0 services, and 3jam stood out because of their ability to enhance communications in a simple yet effective way. At the heart of mobile devices, people want to communicate better, faster and more simply with their friends and family,”\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont size\u003d\"5\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:17.0px\"\> \u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont size\u003d\"4\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:13.0px\"\>said 3jam investor Tim Chang, partner at Norwest Venture Partners, which, along with New Enterprise Associates, led a four million dollar round of funding for the company in July 2007. \u003cbr\>\n \u003cbr\>\n \u003cbr\>\n\u003cb\>About Virgin Mobile USA, LLC:\u003cbr\>\n\u003c/b\>The nation's leading youth wireless provider, Virgin Mobile USA offers more than 4.8 million customers control, flexibility and choice in wireless service, rich data content and innovative products without annual contracts. Voice pricing plans range from monthly options with unlimited nights and weekends to by-the-minute offers, allowing consumers to adjust how and what they pay according to their needs. ",1]
);
//-->1.8 trillion in 2010.

Nick Ingelbrecht, research analyst at Gartner says, “Nobody could have
predicted the phenomenal success of SMS, and the race is on to find its
successor. Without a doubt, new services are needed, but a clear leader
has yet to emerge from the messaging services currently being deployed,
such as mobile IM [instant messaging], video messaging, mobile e-mail
and unified and integrated messaging.”

Consumers have shown interest in 3jam’s off-deck service, which, since
soft launching in September 2006, has gained hundreds of thousands of
monthly active users. These users have discovered 3jam.com
and have taken their “txt” to the next level. Currently, 3jam is
building a global service for transiting, billing and clearing
multi-party SMS messages, with many additional features to be available
soon. The service has grown virally to date and was recently recognized
as one of CNET Webware’s Top 100 Services of 2007.

“Our firm has reviewed dozens of mobile 2.0 services, and 3jam stood
out because of their ability to enhance communications in a simple yet
effective way. At the heart of mobile devices, people want to
communicate better, faster and more simply with their friends and
family,” said
3jam investor Tim Chang, partner at Norwest Venture Partners, which,
along with New Enterprise Associates, led a four million dollar round
of funding for the company in July 2007.

About Virgin Mobile USA, LLC:
The nation's leading youth wireless provider, Virgin Mobile USA
offers more than 4.8 million customers control, flexibility and choice
in wireless service, rich data content and innovative products without
annual contracts. Voice pricing plans range from monthly options with
unlimited nights and weekends to by-the-minute offers, allowing
consumers to adjust how and what they pay according to their needs. \n\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12.0px\"\>\u003cbr\>\n\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont size\u003d\"4\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Arial\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:13.0px\"\>Virgin Mobile USA’s national coverage is powered by the nationwide Sprint PCS network. The company, which launched in 2002, is a joint venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel. J.D. Power and Associates\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:13.0px\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial\"\> \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.jdpower.com/telecom/ratings/wireless/prepaid/index.asp\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\><http://www.jdpower.com\u003cWBR\>/telecom/ratings/wireless\u003cWBR\>/prepaid/index.asp>\u003c/a\> \u003c/font\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Arial\"\> has ranked Virgin Mobile highest in customer satisfaction among wireless prepaid services for two years in a row, and its own customers regularly report a greater than 90% satisfaction rate. Virgin Mobile contributes 5% of profits from downloadable content to The RE*Generation and provides postage-paid return envelopes in every new package for customers to recycle old phones. \u003cbr\>\n\u003c/font\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12.0px\"\>\u003cbr\>\n\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont size\u003d\"4\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Arial\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:13.0px\"\>\u003cb\>About 3jam, Inc.\u003cbr\>\n\u003c/b\>3jam, Inc., was founded in 2005 to develop new and better ways to keep people in touch with their friends and family. Available for any mobile phone, the 3jam SMS 2.0 text messaging service makes it fun and easy for people to coordinate and connect. 3jam is funded by New Enterprise Associates and Norwest Venture Partners, with headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. For more information, visit \u003ca href\u003d\"http://3jam.com\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\>3jam.com\u003c/a\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:13.0px\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial\"\> \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.3jam.com/\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\><http://www.3jam.com/>",1]
);
//-->

Virgin
Mobile USA’s national coverage is powered by the nationwide Sprint PCS
network. The company, which launched in 2002, is a joint venture
between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel. J.D.
Power and Associates <http://www.jdpower.com/telecom/ratings/wireless/prepaid/index.asp>
has ranked Virgin Mobile highest in customer satisfaction among
wireless prepaid services for two years in a row, and its own customers
regularly report a greater than 90% satisfaction rate. Virgin Mobile
contributes 5% of profits from downloadable content to The
RE*Generation and provides postage-paid return envelopes in every new
package for customers to recycle old phones.

About 3jam, Inc.
3jam, Inc., was founded in 2005 to develop new and better ways to
keep people in touch with their friends and family. Available for any
mobile phone, the 3jam SMS 2.0 text messaging service makes it fun and
easy for people to coordinate and connect. 3jam is funded by New
Enterprise Associates and Norwest Venture Partners, with headquarters
in Menlo Park, Calif. For more information, visit 3jam.com <http://www.3jam.com/> \u003c/font\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Arial\"\>.\u003cbr\>\n \u003cbr\>\n \u003cbr\>\nFor more information, please contact:\u003cbr\>\nVijay S. Chattha / VSC PR for 3jam / 415-305-6041 / \u003cfont color\u003d\"#0000FF\"\>\u003ca href\u003d\"mailto:vijay@vscconsulting.com\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\>vijay@vscconsulting.com\u003c/a\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont color\u003d\"#0000FF\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial\"\> \u003ca href\u003d\"mailto:vijay@vscconsulting.com\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\><mailto:vijay@vscconsulting\u003cWBR\>.com>\u003c/a\> \u003cbr\>\n\u003c/font\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Arial\"\>Corinne Nosal / Virgin Mobile USA / 908-607 4235 / \u003ca href\u003d\"mailto:corinne.nosal@virginmobileusa.com\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\>corinne.nosal@virginmobileusa\u003cWBR\>.com\u003c/a\>\u003cbr\>\n\u003c/font\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12.0px\"\>\u003cbr\>\n###\u003cbr\>\n\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:12.0px\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Arial\"\>\u003cb\>------------------------------\u003cWBR\>------------------------------\u003cWBR\>---\u003cbr\>\n\u003c/b\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/span\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Arial\"\>\u003cfont size\u003d\"1\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9.0px\"\>Vijay S. Chattha\u003cbr\>\nChief Talker \u003cbr\>\nVSC Consulting \u003cbr\>\nVSC \u003d Visibility + Strategy + Creativity\u003cbr\>\nAward Winning Public Relations & Digital Marketing Boutique\u003cbr\>\nSan Francisco | London \u003cbr\>\n\u003cbr\>\n(mobile phone) 415-305-6041\u003cbr\>\n(fax) 415-651-9032\u003cbr\>\n(e) - \u003ca href\u003d\"mailto:vijay@vscconsulting.com\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\>vijay@vscconsulting.com\u003c/a\> \u003cbr\>\n(website) - \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.vscconsulting.com\" target\u003d\"_blank\" onclick\u003d\"return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)\"\>http://www.vscconsulting.com\u003c/a\>\u003cbr\>\nSkype – vijaychattha | AIM – supersamosaT\u003cbr\>\n(mailing address) 353 Kearny Street Suite 401 4th Floor. San Francisco, CA 94108 USA\u003cbr\>\n\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont size\u003d\"1\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9.0px\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial\"\>\u003cimg src\u003d\"?attid\u003d0.0.1&disp\u003demb&view\u003datt&th\u003d11523b67d78fde38\"\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial\"\>",1]
);
//--> .

For more information, please contact:
Vijay S. Chattha / VSC PR for 3jam / 415-305-6041 / vijay@vscconsulting.com <mailto:vijay@vscconsulting.com>
Corinne Nosal / Virgin Mobile USA / 908-607 4235 / corinne.nosal@virginmobileusa.com