Virgin Mobile to Support Opera Mini Mobile Web Browser

Opera Software has announced an agreement with the MVNO, Virgin Mobile USA to distribute the Opera Mini mobile web browser on several Virgin Mobile USA handsets. Virgin Mobile USA subsidiary Helio was the first U.S. carrier to sign a deal with Opera Mini in the United States.

Opera Mini will also be available as a free application download on select devices for Virgin Mobile USA prepaid customers via the VirginXL download storefront. In the future, Opera Mini will come pre-installed on selected Virgin Mobile USA handsets.

Starting April 14, 2009, this service will be available on eight Virgin Mobile USA handsets including the Slash from Samsung, and the Arc, Shuttle and Super Slice.

"This partnership is a great way for Opera to reach Virgin Mobile USA's large customer base in the United States," said Opera CEO Jon S. von Tetzchner. "It demonstrates that Virgin Mobile USA recognizes Opera as a valuable service for its customers, who will now be able to enjoy Opera Mini's speed and amazing feature set while browsing on the go."

Opera Mini is a lightweight, client-server-based mobile browser that delivers Web pages with lightning speed and has more than 20.5 million users worldwide every month. In the United States, Opera Mini is growing fast with 73 percent year-over-year growth and each user having 222 page views per month on an average, according to Opera's latest State of the Mobile Web report.

The Opera Mini build for Virgin Mobile USA will support both English and Spanish language support, the first such offering from a U.S. carrier and Opera. The Opera Mini application will be available to Virgin Mobile USA prepaid customers at standard data prices.

Posted to the site on 1st April 2009