Sprint announced on Tuesday that it will cut service to all 86,000 of its Virgin Mobile customers who are currently on a contractual service plan. It is part of Sprint’s restructuring of its newly-acquired prepaid mobile arm.
Sprint acquired Virgin Mobile in November for nearly $500 million. Sprint said the decision was motivated by the company’s initiative to delve deeper in the prepaid mobile service market.
Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T have all made strong inroads in the prepaid cell phone market, but Sprint has been somewhat left in the dust. By completely ending all contract service on Virgin Mobile, Sprint is demonstrating how much focus it now wants to invest in this area.
Affected customers will be able to receive a $50 credit if they decide to set up a new account with Sprint.
Virgin Mobile contracts will all officially end on May 25.
