Virgin Mobile USA, which has been working since December with private-label mobile search provider JumpTap, announced that it would add now add local mobile search. Users will be able to type a query and their zip, city or state to get local information. Both search functionality and local content on mobile devices are core, strategic capabilities. In “white label” mobile search, JumpTap competes with Medio Systems and a partnership between InfoSpace and FAST.

Virgin Mobile USA is an MVNO, jointly owned by Sprint and the UK-based Virgin Group. It has operated in the U.S. on the Sprint network since 2002 and recently filed for an IPO.

Related Topics: Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling