Virgin Mobile UK is a mobile phone service provider operating in the United Kingdom, and a subsidiary of Virgin Media. The company was launched by Virgin Group in 1999 as the world's first Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). As a virtual network operator, Virgin Mobile does not maintain its own network, but instead has contracts to use the existing network of EE (originally One2One at the time Virgin launched). Virgin provide pay as you go and contract mobile packages, as well as mobile broadband services. It sells its services directly, as well as through Virgin Media's retail stores.