TROWBRIDGE company Virgin Mobile has reported record first quarter sales with turnover during the first three months of 2003 exceeding £1m a day.

Over £250,000 people have joined the UK's fifth biggest mobile

network since January and that period has shown the greatest sales of any quarter since the company was launched in November 1999.

Virgin Mobile's Sir Richard Branson said: "Once again Virgin Mobile has proven itself to be a record breaker with more than a quarter of a million new customers joining our service in the first three months of this year.

"We will attract our three-millionth customer during 2003 a fantastic achievement for a company that is only three years old."

Total revenues for the year are expected to top £400m compared with £288m last year.

Average revenue per user a key industry measure stands at £136 and was flat compared with the previous quarter.

Traffic from Virgin customers accounts for more than 20 per cent of T-Mobile's UK customer base and contributes about 25 per cent of text messaging on the network.

Sir Richard said: "Not only is Virgin Mobile doing great guns as a network in its own right, we are also a major partner to our network Partner T-Mobile's UK customer base."

Part of the company's success is attributed to successfully tapping into the youth market, which accounts for a major proportion of text messages sent.

Recently filed accounts for Virgin at Companies House show the company earned £16m in 2002, making operating profits of £5m during that period.

Another local company is also looking to the future in the mobile telecoms industry.

It has been announced that two divisions of Warminster firm PNC Telecom Plc have been bought by Wales-based company Vanguard Plc, one of the UK's longest established mobile phone distribution companies.

With the acquisition of PNC Telecom Services and KJC Mobile Phones Ltd, Vanguard hopes to expand its business and create a platform for future growth.

Paolo Fidanza, chief executive officer of Vanguard, said: "The telecoms industry, both in the UK and Europe, needs consolidation.

"There are currently too many companies which lack scale to compete effectively and provide the right level of customer service. This is exciting news for PNC, KJC and Vanguard alike. It is our intention to continue our expansion plans utilising the new resources this acquisition has given us access to."