• by Aaron Baar , March 3, 2010

In a bid to attract even the heavy Internet users to the pay-as-you go model, Virgin Mobile is expanding its prepaid broadband offering, with an option that could conceivably compete with a regular, daily-use data plan.

"We decided to refresh the plans because customers were asking for it," company representative Corinne Nosal, tells Marketing Daily. "We've always prided ourselves in asking our customers what they wanted. A lot of them said they were interested in an at-home replacement for their Internet plans."

The company's Broadband2Go plans are priced between $10 and $60, with four options to accommodate different usage patterns. The cheapest plan only offers 100 megabytes, or about five hours of Web browsing. The $60 plan, however, is good for 30 days and would accommodate about 250 hours of Web browsing.

"We're not expecting the majority of our consumers to sign up for the $60 plan," Nosal says. "The market we're going for is an on-the-go person who is looking for a bridge between their home Internet and their work Internet."

Still, 16% of Virgin Mobile's customers said they have purchased their Broadband2Go cards for at-home -- rather than interim -- use, and 30% said they use their cards more than four times a week, Nosal says. So there may be a market for the higher-priced options.

Virgin Mobile USA, which is under Sprint's umbrella of prepaid plans, will promote the updated plans with a multifaceted marketing campaign that will include print, online and out-of-home advertising. The company will also include its message on coffee cup sleeves in 30 of the most trafficked airports nationwide. The sleeves read: "Take It To Go ... The Internet that Is."