British media are reporting that NTL will increase its bid for Virgin Mobile by more than 10 percent to about $1.58 billion. Virgin's board rejected NTL's initial bid in December, saying the amount undervalued the MVNO. Analysts predict Virgin's board will also reject this recent offer because NTL's per share price, which has fallen, amounts to roughly the same amount as its original bid. The Virgin brand is like gold: The company successfully markets everything from air travel to books. Coming to market with a quadruple play of TV, fixed-line phone, broadband and mobile under the Virgin brand could easily trump existing bundled service offerings and make it tough on competitors to create a compelling marketing message. Article
