Virgin Media facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Traded as | Nasdaq: VMED (no longer traded) |
| Industry | |
| Predecessors |
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| Founded | 8 February 2007 |
| Founder | Richard Branson |
| Headquarters | Reading, England |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
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Key people
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| Products |
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| Revenue |  £4.100 billion (2012) |
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Operating income
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£0.699 billion (2012) |
| £2.852 billion (2012) |
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| Total assets | £10.504 billion (2012) |
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Number of employees
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14,004 (2012) |
| Parent | Virgin Media O2 |
| Subsidiaries |
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Virgin Media Limited is a British company that provides phone, TV, and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its main office is in Reading, England. The company is part of Virgin Media O2, which is a partnership between Liberty Global and Telefónica. Since it started in 2007, Virgin Media has used the Virgin name with permission from Richard Branson.
Virgin Media has its own special internet network in the UK. This network uses both fibre optic cables and older cable technology. A new company called Nexfibre is helping to bring this network to even more places. As of mid-2023, Virgin Media had about 5.8 million customers. It is one of the biggest internet providers in the UK, along with BT (EE), Sky, and TalkTalk.
How Virgin Media Started
Early Beginnings
The company's story began with two other companies: Telewest and NTL. They joined together in March 2006.
Telewest started in 1984 as "Croydon Cable." It grew a lot in the 1990s, buying other cable companies. NTL began in 1993, also buying up local cable TV areas. In 2004, NTL bought Virgin.net, which offered internet services.
Joining Forces and Virgin Mobile
Telewest and NTL started talking about joining up in 2003. They decided to merge, creating one of the biggest media companies in the UK.
In 2005, NTL:Telewest also began talks to buy Virgin Mobile UK, a mobile phone company. Virgin Mobile's owners at first thought the offer was too low. But in April 2006, NTL made a better offer, and Richard Branson agreed. He became a part-owner of the new company.
NTL and Telewest officially merged on March 3, 2006. This made them the largest cable provider in the UK. Then, on July 4, 2006, they completed the purchase of Virgin Mobile. This meant the new company could offer four services: TV, internet, mobile phone, and home phone. This was a first in the UK!
The company then changed its name to "Virgin Media Inc." on November 8, 2006.
Becoming Virgin Media
In November 2006, the company made a deal with Richard Branson to use the Virgin name. All the old services from NTL, Telewest, and Virgin.net, along with Virgin Mobile, became "Virgin Media" on February 8, 2007. This day was called "V Day."
Disagreement with Sky
In 2007, Virgin Media and Sky had a big disagreement about how much Virgin Media should pay to show Sky's channels. They couldn't agree, so on March 1, 2007, Virgin Media stopped showing popular Sky channels like Sky1 and Sky News.
This made many customers unhappy. Both companies blamed each other. Eventually, in November 2008, they reached a new agreement. Sky's channels returned to Virgin Media, and Virgin Media's channels continued to be shown on Sky. Both companies also agreed to drop their legal complaints against each other.
Owned by Liberty Global
Until 2013, Virgin Media's shares were traded on stock markets in the US and London. On February 5, 2013, a company called Liberty Global announced it would buy Virgin Media for about £15 billion. The deal was approved and completed on June 7, 2013.
In 2014, Virgin Media bought Smallworld Cable, another cable company in the UK. This helped Virgin Media grow its network even more.
Later, in 2018, Virgin Media had another disagreement, this time with UKTV channels. For three weeks, channels like Dave and Yesterday were not available on Virgin Media. Customers were very upset. But on August 11, 2018, they reached a deal, and all the UKTV channels came back.
Joining with O2
On May 7, 2020, Liberty Global (who owned Virgin Media) and Telefónica (who owned O2, a mobile phone company) agreed to combine their UK businesses. This big deal was worth £31 billion.
The merger was approved and finished on June 1, 2021. This created a new, very large company called Virgin Media O2. It is now one of the biggest entertainment and phone companies in the UK, competing with BT Group.
What Virgin Media Offers
Virgin Broadband
Virgin Media offers fast internet services. In areas with its own cables, it's called "fibre optic broadband." This network uses super-fast fibre optic cables to connect to local street cabinets.
Virgin Media's broadband has often been praised for its speed. In tests by Ofcom, a UK regulator, Virgin Media's speeds were closer to what they advertised compared to other providers. This is because Virgin Media owns its network, so speeds are more consistent.
Over the years, Virgin Media has kept making its internet faster.
- In 2008, they launched 50 Mbit/s broadband.
- By 2010, they offered 100 Mbit/s.
- In 2012, they doubled speeds for many customers, with some getting 120 Mbit/s.
- In 2014, they launched 152 Mbit/s.
- In 2015, they rebranded their packages as "Vivid" and offered speeds up to 200 Mbit/s.
- By 2017, ultrafast speeds became standard, with top speeds of 300 Mbit/s.
- In 2019, they started rolling out "Gig1" which offers over 1 Gbit/s (1,000 Mbit/s) download speeds. This rollout was completed across their network by the end of 2021.
- In 2020, some customers got a free boost to 636 Mbit/s.
| Name | Average download speed | Min. guaranteed download speed | Average upload speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| M50 | 54 | 27 | 5 |
| M125 | 132 | 66 | 20 |
| M250 | 264 | 132 | 25 |
| M350 | 362 | 181 | 36 |
| M500 | 516 | 258 | 52 |
| M600 | 636 | 315 | 41 |
| Gig1 Fibre | 1130 | 565 | 104 |
Internet Speed Management
Virgin Media says it does not slow down (throttle) users' internet speeds.
However, in the past, Virgin Media did temporarily reduce internet speeds for some users during busy times if they used a lot of data. They changed these rules over time. Since February 2014, they stopped slowing down download speeds for most packages. Now, they state that no matter what broadband package you have, your internet speed will not be slowed down by them.
Wi-Fi on London Underground
In March 2012, Virgin Media won a special agreement to provide Wi-Fi on London Underground train platforms. By July 2012, Wi-Fi was available at 80 stations. This service is free for Virgin Media customers and customers of partner companies like Vodafone and EE. Other users can access some free content or pay for full internet access.
Virgin Media Business
On February 11, 2010, the business part of the company, which used to be called ntl:Telewest Business, changed its name to Virgin Media Business. This part of the company provides internet and phone services specifically for other businesses.
Virgin Phone
Virgin Phone offers home phone services. It is the second largest provider of home phone services in the UK, after BT Group.
Since April 1, 2010, Virgin Media has offered free calls from home phones to Virgin Mobile phones during certain times.
Virgin TV
Virgin TV is Virgin Media's digital cable television service. It is the second largest paid TV service in the UK.
Virgin TV offers a lot of on-demand content, which means you can watch shows and movies whenever you want. It has thousands of hours of programming available.
TV Channels
Virgin TV offers around 300 digital TV and radio channels. These include channels you pay for, special premium channels, and pay-per-view options.
Past Services
Virgin Mobile (1999–2023)
Virgin Media used to run its own mobile phone service called Virgin Mobile (UK). It started in November 1999. After Virgin Media joined with Telefónica (O2), it was decided that Virgin Mobile would close. Customers were moved to the O2 network. This process was finished in August 2023, and Virgin Mobile stopped operating on August 31, 2023.
Virgin Media Television
Virgin Media also used to own a company called Virgin Media Television (which was previously Flextech). This company ran its own TV channels, including Bravo, LIVING, Trouble, and Challenge. It also launched a channel called Virgin1.
In June 2010, Virgin Media announced it would sell Virgin Media Television to BSkyB (now Sky). This deal was completed in July 2010. The channels became part of Sky's offerings. Virgin1 was renamed Channel One because Sky did not have the right to use the Virgin name for it.
Sit-up
Virgin Media used to own a company called Sit-up Ltd, which ran home shopping TV channels like Bid TV and Price Drop TV. Virgin Media sold this company in April 2009.
Virgin Media Pioneers
Virgin Media Pioneers was an online community for young British business owners. It offered tips, advice, and ways for them to connect with each other. It was started in 2010 by Virgin Media.
In 2011, Virgin Media Pioneers helped create the "Youth Enterprise Loan," which was a £10 million fund to help young people start new businesses.
UKTV
UKTV is a network of digital TV channels. It was a partnership between BBC Worldwide (the BBC's commercial part) and Virgin Media. UKTV runs channels like Yesterday, Dave, and W.
In August 2011, Virgin Media agreed to sell its half of UKTV to Scripps Networks Interactive. This deal was completed in October 2011.
Company Information
Ownership
When NTL and Telewest merged and bought Virgin Mobile, the company made a 30-year deal with Richard Branson's Virgin Group to use the Virgin brand. Branson became a significant shareholder in the new company.
In February 2013, Liberty Global announced it would buy Virgin Media. The deal was completed in June 2013.
Virgin Media's UK operations are now part of a US company called Virgin Media (UK) Group Inc.
As of 2014, Virgin Media had about 20% of the UK broadband market, similar to Sky Broadband, but less than BT Total Broadband. By 2016, its share was slightly lower at 19%.
Virgin TV had about 3.4 million customers as of 2007. This made up about 15% of the UK's TV providers.
Advertising
Virgin Media launched in February 2007 with a big advertising campaign. Their TV adverts featured famous actors like Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, and David Tennant.
Virgin Media also sponsored the TV show Big Brother in 2007 and 2008.
In October 2010, Virgin Media used the Looney Tunes character Speedy Gonzales in their adverts. He became a mascot for the company, appearing on TV, in the London Underground, and online.
In 2012, Virgin Media launched another big ad campaign with Olympic runner Usain Bolt and Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson to promote their fast broadband.
In 2016, Southampton F.C. announced that Virgin Media would be their shirt sponsor for three years.
Security Information
Data Security Incident
In March 2020, it was discovered that a Virgin Media marketing database, which held personal details like phone numbers and addresses for 900,000 users, was left unprotected for 10 months. The company said that an employee had not followed the correct security steps. It was confirmed that at least one unauthorized person accessed the data during this time. After the issue was fixed, an investigation was started to find out how much damage was done and if any data was stolen.
See also
In Spanish: Virgin Media para niños
- Virgin Media Television (Ireland) – a separate company that bought TV channels in Ireland in 2015.
