Optus has confirmed that it will be phasing out its Virgin Mobile Australia subsidiary over the next two years.

ZDNet understands that Virgin Mobile employees will be impacted as sales and marketing is consolidated under the Optus brand, with 200 staffers affected.

"For Virgin Mobile employees, our policy is always to talk to those who may be impacted by these changes first. Any potential options for redeployment within the wider Optus business will be discussed with affected individuals at that time," an Optus spokesperson said in a statement.

"Virgin Mobile customers can continue to use their service in the same way they always have. We will be contacting them in the coming days to let them know more about the changes and their future options."

Virgin Mobile has been continually losing market share, according to Kantar, with the market research company in November reporting the telco had lost 0.4 percentage points down to holding just 4 percent of the total Australian mobile market.

Optus has also been wholesaling its 4G network to its Virgin Mobile subsidiary since 2014.

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