Virgin Mobile UK wants to give you a reason to stick around

You know how it always feels like the wireless carriers are more interested in signing up new subscribers than doing right by the subscribers they have now? Yeah, well Virgin Mobile UK has decided that instead of essentially punishing their best customers for staying loyal to them while they're doling out fat subsidies to new customers, they're going to start offering a new contract service where subscribers get some nice incentives to stick around after their initial one year or 18 month contract is up. They must have noticed that carriers use the lure of deeply discounted handsets to entice subscribers from their current carrier, so once that contract is up subscribers will have their choice of either a discount on their service plan or a new free phone. There are a few snags, like that Virgin Mobile UK's rates are a little higher initially than what you'll typically get from other UK carriers, so you have to think long-term about how much you're saving, something we all know lots of people aren't very good at doing (not you people, you're good at the big picture stuff). You'd think that after the advent of number portability US carriers would be doing everything possible to hang onto customers after their contracts expire, but it seems like all they're doing is signing people up for longer contracts (two years is pretty much the norm now)—though we have heard of Sprint offering long-term customers a $150 credit towards a new phone if they'll re-up for another couple years.