Virgin user base grows

[temi]

Virgin Mobile was launched in 1999
Customer numbers at Virgin Mobile are up 37% on a year ago, the UK's fifth- largest mobile phone operator has said.
Virgin said its total subscriber base reached 5.03 million by 31 December, and it added a net 417,000 users in the October-to-December period alone.

However, average customer revenues slipped to £132 ($248) in the quarter, down from £137 in the previous quarter.

This was enough to trigger a 19.25 pence fall in Virgin Mobile's share price to 245.75 pence on Tuesday.

The company blamed the fall in annual revenues per user (ARPU) on a regulatory cut in tariffs last September.

The group's churn level - when customers switch operators - edged higher to 16.2%.

source full story: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4224937.stm