BRANSON ANSWERING THE CALL

While the following story has little to do with what we cover, any mention of music legend Richard Branson, a personal hero of mine, deserves some ink—or in this case, ones and zeros.

Branson's Virgin Mobile is close to inking a deal with Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. telephone company, as part of a $1 billion attempt to enter the American telecommunication market, according to several published reports.

The move is seen by those that know more than us, and that’s pretty much everybody, as a giant leap for Branson, who is keen to use the Virgin brand name to set up a global international mobile telephony business.

Sources on Wall Street said that Sprint and Virgin executives were meeting this week to put the final touches to an agreement that could be unveiled within two weeks.