Virgin Mobile USA inked a deal with wireless community and social networking enabler Jumbuck to give Virgin subscribers access to Jumbuck's international Power Chat service, which connects subscribers from 40 carriers worldwide in an online wireless community. The MVNO has also launched the company's new Text Chat SMS service with plans to launch Jumbuck's Fast Flirting and Jumbuck Island communities services in the coming months. The Jumbuck deal highlights the continued importance of messaging for carriers as the 3G data service still pulls in lukewarm revenues. Verizon just announced it had facilitated more than 5 billion SMS in September and over 100 million MMS; perhaps this marks a turning of the tide for MMS and only edifies the strategic positioning of companies like Jumbuck, which capitalize on the popularity and ease of mobile messaging.
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