Virgin Mobile USA, a joint-venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint (News - Alert) Nextel, and a telecom company offering pre-paid cellular services, reportedly announced that it is expanding the retail footprint for Broadband2Go, a 3G nationwide wireless Internet service without an annual contract, monthly subscription or activation fee.

 

Broadband2Go is a high speed Web access directly from laptop. Users have to plug this USB device into their laptop and connect to the Internet from almost anywhere in the country. With this service, customers can surf the web, check e-mail, download files, and more, all at lightning-fast speed, says the company official.

 

The expanded Broadband2Go service will be commercially available from Dec. 1 and can be purchased for just $99.99, directly from the company, as well as more than 1,000 Best Buy Mobile stores, more than 4,300 Radio Shack stores, Sam's Club kiosks via Radio Shack, Walmart.com and Target.com.

 

Some of the key features of this newly expanded service, Broadband2Go include; No monthly fee, plug and play with automatic installation, built-in usage meter lets you know how many megabytes you have left in Broadband2Go Plan, "EVDO Rev A" technology for even faster data transfers, doubles as a flash drive with microSD reader, compatible with PC or MAC.

 

Virgin Mobile (News - Alert) official also said that activation for this service is simple with the option of adding megabytes as often as needed with credit/debit cards or Virgin Mobile Top-Up cards.

 

Alternatively, customers also have the flexibility to use Top-Up cards to purchase data usage from 100MB to 1 gigabyte on the pay-as-you-go model. A new Broadband2Go-branded Top-Up card for $20, can also be used to purchase 250MB, said the company official.

 

Other data plans available, as stated are $10, $40 and $60, and any Virgin Mobile USA Top-Up card can be used.

   

"Between expensive data plans with annual contracts and having to search for a cafe offering Wi-Fi, there's been limited options for those in need of on-the-go nationwide connectivity without big commitments," said Bob Stohrer, chief marketing officer, Virgin Mobile USA, in a statement. "We are very excited to expand distribution and make the product even more accessible right in time for the holidays and gifting."

 

The MC760 Broadband2Go device operates on the Sprint Nationwide Network and was developed in conjunction with Novatel Wireless (News - Alert).

 

"If you look at our prepaid competition, their services are either priced above Virgin Mobile, or well below ours in terms of speed and bandwidth," Stohrer said.