October 27, 2011
Virgin cable broadband service is continuing to grow in popularity according to their latest set of results with most new customers taking broadband with a speed of 30Mb or above.
 Virgin have just released their Q3 2011 results and it shows that they have increased their number of cable broadband customers by 24,300 to their fibre optic cable broadband service but have lost 5,200 customers on their standard DSL service. The customers on Virgins DSL service are those who are not in areas covered by Virgin Medias cable network and so will connect via standard copper broadband connections on BT’s network.
They are also seeing far more new customers taking out super fast broadband options, with 54% of new subscribers taking out broadband with speeds of 30Mb or above, this is compared to a year ago where just 28% were taking 20Mb or higher.
Of Virgin Media’s 4,072,900 cable broadband customers, over 26% are now taking 20Mb or higher broadband form them, this equates to over 1 million customers.
We anticipate allot of Virgin broadband customers who have existing deals may only move to faster broadband packages when they are offered free upgrades to do so. Virgin Media already offer a 50Mb broadband and are rolling out a 100Mb broadband service that is due to be completed during 2012 that will be available to 8 million homes.
Virgin will no doubt eventually change their packages and will not offer their 10Mb broadband service but it is likely to be increased, many customers may only then move to a faster broadband connection when they will not have to pay more for it.
Neil Berkett, the Chief Executive of Virgin Media, said:
“Over a quarter of our entire base now subscribe to speeds of 20Mb or higher and a record number of
customers joined us on superfast broadband speeds during the period with. In TV, we have quadrupled the
number of households using our game-changing TiVo service and customer advocacy for this product is
very strong.
We are increasing the value and mix of our customer base as people add or move to higher tier services
and as new joiners increasingly take up higher value products. This, along with subscriber growth, has
increased revenue and we have had further substantial increases in free cash flow and OCF. Our strong
and sustained financial performance allows us to continue to invest in giving our customers more value and
further differentiating our range of market leading products.“
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February 17, 2011
Virgin Media has over 4 million cable broadband customers making it the second largest ISP behind BT.
 Around 20 % of Virgin Medias customers are receiving broadband speeds of at least 20Mb which in real terms is over 780,000 homes now signed up to either the 20Mb or 50Mb services on offer. The popularity of the higher speed broadband services was showing as 1 in 3 of each new customers signed up for these extra fast fibre broadband speeds available.
Currently on the 50Mb broadband service Virgin Media had 118,000 customers.
The popularity of Virgin medias broadband services grew tremendously in 2010 as overall Virgin added 76,000 new customers which was a huge leap from 2009 where they added 17,600. In the fourth quarter of 2010 Virgin nearly matched 2009′s total for the year by adding 17,100 new customers alone!
Virgin Media customers tend on the whole to take out bundles with the packages, with 63% of subscribers on Triple play services and 11.8% being Quad-play customers.
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November 1, 2010
Virgin Media’s 100Mb pre-registration saw more than 10,000 people sign up for the new service ready for when it launches in December.
 The pre-registration for the new 100Mb fibre broadband service was opened on Wednesday and in the first 24 hours it is believed that over 10,000 customers signed up proving that there is a huge demand for super fast fibre broadband services.
The new 100Mb broadband service will initially be available to around 200,000 homes when it launches in December, but it is expected that by mid-2012 that all of Virgin Medias fibre optic cable network which covers 12.7 million homes will have access to these super fast speeds.
There was some questions asked if there was enough demand for the super fast broadband when Virgin Media currently only have 90,000 subscribed to the 50Mb broadband package but they said that they believe there is.
Neil Berkett, the Virgin Media Chief Executive told the Guardian newspaper:
“When we think the market is ready we will upgrade the network accordingly and launch products”
“The brilliant thing is with the scale and power of our network we could run 400Mb today. 100,000 lapped up 50Mb in the past 12 months, that gives an indication that the market is ready for 100Mb.”
Virgin clearly want to lead the way with the fastest broadband, so it is little wonder that they are offering this faster broadband speed when their main rival, BT, are currently rolling out their own fibre broadband network across the country.
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October 26, 2010
100Mb broadband from Virgin Media could arrive this week if Prime Minister David Cameron is to be believed.
The Prime Minister said during a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference that Virgin Media would be launching a super fast broadband 100Mb broadband service this week.
What Mr Cameron said was:
“…we’ll work with utility companies to get more investment in our energy, with construction companies on our roads, with the telecommunications industry on broadband. This collaboration is already working. Virgin Media is rolling out a new superfast broadband service this week.”
He soon followed up and said about the 100Mb broadband connection.
Virgin Media have not confirmed or denied the date that their new 100Mb broadband service is due to launch but it would be quite a safe bet that it will be some time this week if the prime minister is talking about it’s launch.
Last week it came out that a BT 110Mb fibre broadband service would be launched in March next year, with the cynical amongst us thinking it was to get “one up” on Virgin Media to be able to say that they are offering the fastest broadband in the UK.
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October 12, 2010
Following the announcement from Ofcom that BT are to make use of their ducts and telephone poles open to rival broadband providers, Virgin Media have said that the price needs to be right if they are to make use of them.
 Virgin would naturally be very interested in being able to extend their reach by using infrastructure already in place that would help keep their own costs down but they will only do so providing that the price that BT want to charge them to access the infrastructure is right.
A spokesman for Virgin Media told PC Pro:
“We now need to ensure the price demanded for access… does not limit the ambitions of getting next-generation connectivity to those people living outside our towns and cities.“
The major benefits to rivals making use of BT’s underground ducts and telephone poles is that it makes it far easier and much less expensive to roll out next generation fibre broadband to more rural areas that would be if they had to ig up the roads to deploy there. Plus BT themselves are probably not going to deploy their own BT Infinity network out to many of the areas that could benefit from rivals doing it for them instead.
BT are aiming to deploy their fibre network to 66% of the UK by 2015 with those areas that are not being covered mainly considered areas where it does not work financially viable for BT themselves to deploy to, however other rival broadband providers may be able to deploy out to these areas cheaper and so would help increase the reach of the UK’s next generation broadband even further.
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June 2, 2010
Virgin Media are giving new subscribers access to their fibre optic broadband network for just £5 per month for an introductory time.
The new online only offer from Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) is available to new broadband subscribers to it’s 10Mb fibre broadband service which offers customers unlimited downloads, free wireless router, free internet security and unlimited UK weekend landline calls with the Virgin phone line which is charged at £11.99 per month.
After the 3 month introductory offer is over the price reverts back to the standard price of £12.50 per month for the broadband.
Users who don’t take out a Virgin Phone line can take an introductory offer of £15 per month for 3 months for the broadband which will then revert back to £20 per month after the 3 months.
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May 17, 2010
Virgin Media the UK Cable operator has brought in some online offers that gives customers fibre broadband at reduced prices for 3 months when taken with a Virgin phone line.
This means that the Virgin Broadband (www.virginmedia.com) L package which offers 10Mb fibre broadband is available for just £5 per month for the first 3 months, there is also discounts on the 20Mb broadband and their headline 50Mb broadband that they offer.
The full deals and what each one offers are listed below:
- L (10Mb broadband) – Save £22.50
- £5 per month for 3 months then £12.50 per month (when taken with Virgin Phone line for £11.99 per month) or
- £15 per month for 3 months then £20 per month if only broadband taken
- 10Mb broadband speed
- Unlimited downloads (fair use policy)
- 12 month contract
- Free Internet Security
- Free Wireless N Router
- Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles when taken with a Virgin Phone line.
- XL (20Mb broadband) – Save £30
- £10 per month for 3 months then £20 per month (when taken with Virgin Phone line for £11.99 per month) or
- £25 per month for 3 months then £30 per month if only broadband taken
- 20Mb broadband speed
- Unlimited downloads (fair use policy)
- 12 month contract
- Free Internet Security
- Free Wireless N Router
- Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles when taken with a Virgin Phone line.
- XXL (50Mb broadband) – Save £39
- £15 per month for 3 months then £28 per month (when taken with Virgin Phone line for £11.99 per month) or
- £33 per month for 3 months then £38 per month if only broadband taken
- 50Mb broadband speed
- Unlimited downloads (fair use policy)
- 12 month contract
- Free Internet Security
- Free Wireless N Router
- Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles when taken with a Virgin Phone line.
The discounted Virgin Media fibre broadband offer runs until 30 June 2010.
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March 11, 2010
Virgin Media are to look to look up instead of down when it comes to installing some of it’s fibre optic cable by using telegraph poles.
Plans by Virgin Media, the UK’s largest cable operator are to use telegraph poles and existing ducts to deliver it’s cable broadband services that will be able to deliver broadband speeds up to 50Mb and also it ‘s digital TV services if a trial of the technology to Woolhampton in Berkshire goes well.
Virgin Media currently have their current fibre cable network underground which can prove expensive to deploy with the digging up of roads, however up to this point they have not been able to do any different as there are planning guidelines which stop large scale overhead deployment of cable.
The government is looking at the possibility of changing these guidelines which would then open up the possibility for Virgin Media to do large scale overhead deployment of their cable network which Virgin Media estimate could benefit around 1 million homes.
Virgin Medias Chief Executive, Neil Berkett said:
“This unique trial will allow us to understand the possibilities of aerial deployment and may provide an exciting new way to extend next generation broadband services. With everything from BBC iPlayer to YouTube increasingly demanding reliable ultrafast broadband speeds, we’re keen to ensure that all communities, in towns, cities and villages right across the UK, stand to benefit.”
The government are keen to get next-generation digital services out to rural communities and allowing Virgin Media to look up instead of down could be one way to help with rolling out fibre broadband to more rural areas.
Virgin are already planning on extending their network to another 500,000 homes that would then be able to access it’s current top rated XXL broadband service offering 50Mb. There are currently 12.6 million homes in the UK that are able to connect to the Virgin Media network.
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March 10, 2010
Fibre-Optic broadband access is growing across Europe as next generation broadband starts to take off.
A study done by IDATE on behalf of the Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council Europe showed that the rate of growth of Fibre-To-The-Home broadband went from 19% in June 2009 up to 29% by the end of December 2009.
Across Europe it is estimated that there is FTTH access available to 25 million homes and businesses with currently around 3.5 million taking subscriptions.
In Europe it was found that there was 249 FTTH projects taking place, with 136 of these being new initiatives that were launched since 2005.
The UK however does not show up on the tables for leading the way with FTTH, Norway top the charts with a coverage of 64.9% and Sweden in second spot with a FTTH coverage of 41.4% coverage.
It is countries in Western and Northern Europe that also lead the way in terms of subscriptions to FTTH services, with 67% of subscribers in these countries, Sweden, Italy, France, Norway, The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
The UK we hope will start to feature in the next year or two as fibre broadband deployment is starting to take off a bit more here now, even though we have Virgin Media who are a cable provider the study did not include them. BT are starting the roll out of their own fibre network (BT Infinity), with around 2.5 million premises having FTTH installed by 2012 although the majority however are having FTTC (Fibre-To-The-Cabinet) installed which does not offer as fast speeds as it uses copper wires to deliver the broadband from the cabinet to the premises. Virgin Media are also looking to offer 100Mb fibre broadband via their DOCSIS 3 network.
What is considered one of the main issues with next generation high speed broadband connections is getting people to sign up to them, so a similar process that was needed to get people to change from dial up internet to standard ADSL broadband.
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February 25, 2010
Virgin Media are set to start the roll out of their own 100Mb fibre broadband and help take broadband in the UK up to the next level.
The news comes hot on the heels of yesterdays announcement by Fibrecity who announced the three broadband providers who would be offering the residents of Bournemouth their own 100Mb fibre broadband services.
The news that virgin Media are to start rolling out a 100Mb fibre optic broadband service will also be a blow to big rivals BT, who are currently rolling out their own fibre network “BT Infinity” that offers broadband speeds up to 40Mb.
Also, with Virgin already having it’s network available to around half of UK homes and businesses it gives them good footing to deploy their new technology to double their current headline speed of 50Mb to 100Mb.
Thew new speed increases come as part of Virgin’s DOCSIS 3 network which is already delivering broadband speed of up to 200Mb in Ashford, Kent where the initial trials are taking place. These trials are set to be extended now to Coventry where the trials will continue to focus on future technologies such as teleconferencing and downloading HD programmes on demand.
The other exciting news with this is that Virgin believe that the DOCSIS 3 network will be capable of broadband speeds up to 400Mb.
Neil Berkett, Virgin Media’s Chief Executive said:
“There is nothing we can’t do with our fibre optic cable network, and the upcoming launch of our flagship 100Mb service will give our customers the ultimate broadband experience. Just as we led the way by launching the UK’s first ever next generation service, we want to keep giving our customers the very best broadband available, by investing in technological innovation and transforming the experience they have when they are online. The launch of Virgin Media’s 100Mb service will be a historic moment and will mean the UK will be comparable to other leading broadband nations.“
Although this will likely be a bit of a blow to BT, as consumers hopefully we will see the benefit as the battle to offer the fastest broadband continues between Virgin Media and BT.
BT won’t want to stay a long way behind Virgin Media but unless they perhaps up their ambitions they could well be stuck behind, especially as Virgin Media have funded this with their own money and not been asking for tax payers money to fund it like BT was asking for to help with the roll out of their own fibre network.
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