No wild, first-day pop for shares of MVNO Virgin Mobile (NYSE: VM), the joint venture between Sprint (NYSE: S) and Virgin. After pricing last night at $15, the low-end of its $15-$17 range (for a total raise of $412 million), shares in the company traded modestly higher, at one point hitting $16.63, before settling around $15.50 early in the day. The underwhelming launch could have been due to the stumbles of other high-profile MVNOs, thus damping enthusiasm for the sector, even if Virgin Mobile itself is making money.

About 44 percent of the company was floated, with Sprint Nextel keeping a reduced stake of about 17.2 percent and Richard Branson’s group around 35.7 percent. Most of the proceeds of the sale will go to Sprint as a loan repayment and for the shares it sold. Back in July it said it was only intending to keep $21.4 million of the cash for its own general corporate purposes.