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KYOCERA Wireless Renews Premiere Handset Sponsorship of Second Annual Virgin Festival by Virgin Mobile
Sponsorship of two-day music event includes"Book the Band" competition, Recharge and Refresh Domes and text/pic-to-screen capabilities
San Diego, CA and Warren, NJ - (August 3, 2007) - Kyocera Wireless, a leading global manufacturer of CDMA wireless phones and devices, and leading wireless youth network Virgin Mobile USA today announced that for the second consecutive year Kyocera is the premiere handset sponsor of Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile. A two-day music event held at historic Pimlico Race Course© in Baltimore, MD August 4-5, the festival includes over 40 bands and DJs featuring headline acts such as The Police, Beastie Boys and The Smashing Pumpkins."Virgin Festival not only offers Kyocera a tremendous opportunity to expose our brand and products to a broad audience of current and potential Virgin Mobile customers, but it also allows us to be part of one of the best music festivals in the U.S. this year," said Tom Maguire, vice president of global marketing at Kyocera Wireless. "Kyocera is tremendously excited to serve as Virgin Festival's premiere handset sponsor for the second straight year and further strengthen our relationship with Virgin Mobile."
Kyocera's sponsorship of Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile includes the "Book the Band by Virgin Mobile" contest, a nationwide search for an up-and-coming rock act hosted by Jim Shearer on MTV2. Co-sponsored by MTV2, "Book the Band" offered a competitive online and television venue for five weeks, with each act vying to win a coveted spot on stage at the Festival.
After more than a million votes placed online and via text were tallied, Seattle-based Goth punk rock band AIDEN emerged as the winner, receiving 419,387 votes. AIDEN will be one of the first acts to perform on Sunday, the second day of Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile, the day after The Police close day one. For more information about AIDEN, visit the Book The Band section of the Virgin Festival website - http://www.virginfestival.com/booktheband.
Kyocera Wireless will also have a tremendous on-site presence at Virgin Festival, providing a wide range of services and amenities for attending music fans. Fifty Kyocera "Angels" will be wandering the venue to hand out giveaways, schedules, and provide general information. The Angels will also show off a new Kyocera handset coming to Virgin Mobile's lineup this fall.
Kyocera will also co-sponsor Refresh and Recharge Domes where concert-goers can get off their feet and out of the summer heat for a misty cool-down or grab some shade. Keeping with the Festival's environmentally conscious "green it like you mean it" motto in mind, Recharge Domes will feature organically constructed lounge chairs and solar-powered Recharge Bars for boosting mobile phone batteries. Finally, as it did at the inaugural Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile last year, Kyocera will enable text-to-screen and pic-to-screen capabilities for attendees to send their favorite text or picture messages to the jumbo display on the main stage.
"Kyocera Wireless continues to be a great partner as the premiere handset sponsor of the Festival," says Howard Handler, chief marketing officer, Virgin Mobile USA. "Between 'Book the Band' and all of the unique services Kyocera is providing on-site at the show, the second Virgin Festival stands to be an even better experience than the first."
Tickets for Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile are still available. Single day tickets are available at $97.50 for general admission and $250 for single day VIP. Two-day passes are available at $175 for General Admission and $450 for VIP. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster (http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or 1-800-551-SEAT). For more information, please go to http://www.virginfestival.com/2007.
About Kyocera Wireless Corp.
Kyocera Wireless Corp. is a leading supplier of innovative, feature-rich CDMA wireless devices and accessories for customers worldwide. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyocera International Inc., which acquired QUALCOMM Incorporated's CDMA consumer wireless phone business in February 2000. Based in San Diego, Kyocera Wireless leverages Japan's history of creating advanced consumer technologies around humanism and respect for the environment and blending them with a Western entrepreneurialism and style, resulting in a unique design language and a natural, user-friendly interface. For more information, please visit www.kyocera-wireless.com.
Kyocera Corporation (NYSE: KYO), the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of advanced ceramics. By combining these engineered materials with metals and plastics, and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of telecommunications equipment, semiconductor packages, electronic components, laser printers, copiers, solar energy systems and industrial ceramics. During the year ended March 31, 2007, Kyocera Corporation's consolidated net sales totaled approximately US$10.8 billion (JP¥1,283,897 million) with net income of approximately US$895 million (JP¥106,504 million).
About Virgin Mobile USA, LLC
The nation's leading wireless youth network, Virgin Mobile USA provides more than 4.8 million customers with control, flexibility and choice in wireless service, rich data content and innovative products without annual contracts. Voice pricing plans range from monthly options with unlimited nights and weekends to by-the-minute offers, allowing consumers to adjust how and what they pay according to their needs. Virgin Mobile's full slate of smart, stylish and affordable handsets, including the popular Switch_Back and Slice, are available at top retailers in more than 35,000 locations nationwide and online at www.virginmobileusa.com, with Top-Up cards available at more than 130,000 locations.
Virgin Mobile USA's national coverage is powered by the Nationwide Sprint PCS® Network and the company, which launched in 2002, is a joint venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel. Virgin Mobile provides some of the highest customer satisfaction levels in the industry with its own customers reporting a 94% satisfaction rate. Virgin Mobile contributes 5% of profits from downloadable content to The RE*Generation, its pro-social initiative to help homeless teens, through donations to charitable partners or funding of programs that support and raise awareness for young people in need; and provides postage-paid return envelopes in every new package for customers to recycle old phones.
© 2007 Kyocera Wireless Corp. All rights reserved. Kyocera is a registered trademark of Kyocera Corporation. All other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
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