5 years ago: Virgin Mobile goes down under

22.02.00: Virgin has announced a partnership with Cable & Wireless Optus today to launch an Australian mobile phone company.

'Virgin Mobile' Australia follows three months after Richard Branson's label launched its own mobile business in the UK with One2One and will be Australia's first virtual network operator.

Sir Richard Branson, chairman and founder of Virgin Group, said in a statement that the move is part of their strategy to export the Virgin brand into key telecoms and internet markets around the globe.

Cable & Wireless Optus is one of the earliest developers of internet-enabled phones in Australia. In the UK, Virgin Mobile announced earlier this month its intention to become the world's first mobile company to offer all its customers internet access from any handset.

22.02.05: The telecoms landscape and Virgin Mobile have shifted considerably since Branson buddied up with C&W, with the Virgin head honcho having launched a UK mobile joint venture some months before its Aussie counterpart.

Virgin Mobile has since gone from a private to a public company in the UK with a few flotation teething problems along the way, including having to drop its initial share price considerably.

This year will also see the operator fighting it out with the newest mobile virtual network operator in town, easyMobile - another company from the Stelios stable. Branson and Stelios have already had a public slanging match, with the Virgin head claiming Stelios is too late to join the MVNO party.

Last year, however, did have its highlights for the operator, with Virgin Mobile breaking the four million subscriber mark and coming top in a customer satisfaction survey.