Virgin Media facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | |
| Predecessors |
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| Founded | 8 February 2007 |
| 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) |
| Owner | Virgin Media O2 |
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Number of employees
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14,004 (2012) |
| Subsidiaries |
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Virgin Media is a big British company that offers phone, TV, and internet services across the United Kingdom. It was started in 2007 and has its main office in Reading, England. Virgin Media is owned by Virgin Media O2, which is a partnership between two other large companies, Liberty Global and Telefónica.
Virgin Media uses its own special network of cables to bring fast internet and TV to homes. This network is mostly in cities. A new company called Nexfibre is helping to expand this network to even more places. As of mid-2023, Virgin Media had about 5.8 million customers. It is the main cable provider in the UK, covering more than half of all homes. Virgin Media competes with other big companies like Sky, BT, and TalkTalk.
How Virgin Media Started
Early Beginnings
Virgin Media was formed from two older companies: Telewest and NTL. These two companies joined together in March 2006.
Telewest started way back in 1984 as "Croydon Cable." It grew a lot in the 1990s, buying other cable companies and expanding its network. By 2000, Telewest had reached over 4.9 million homes.
NTL began in 1993, taking advantage of new rules that allowed more cable companies in the UK. It bought smaller cable companies and in 1996, it bought National Transcommunications Limited (NTL), which managed TV signals. This is how it got its new name, NTL.
In 2004, NTL bought Virgin.net, an internet company that had been a joint project with Virgin Group. This allowed NTL to offer internet services to more people.
Joining Forces: NTL, Telewest, and Virgin Mobile
Telewest and NTL started talking about joining together in 2003. They decided to merge to create one of the biggest media companies in the UK. The merger was completed on March 3, 2006, making the new company the largest cable provider in the UK.
Around the same time, NTL:Telewest also wanted to buy Virgin Mobile UK, a mobile phone company. After some talks, they agreed on a deal in April 2006. This was a big step because it meant the new company could offer four main services: TV, internet, mobile phone, and landline phone. This is sometimes called a 'quadruple play'.
As part of the deal, the combined company agreed to use the "Virgin" name for 30 years. So, on November 8, 2006, NTL:Telewest announced it would change its name to "Virgin Media Inc." The official change happened on February 8, 2007, which Virgin Media called V Day.
Challenges with Sky Channels
In 2007, Virgin Media had a disagreement with Sky about showing Sky's channels. They couldn't agree on how much Virgin Media should pay. Because of this, Virgin Media stopped showing popular Sky channels like Sky1 and Sky News on March 1, 2007.
This caused a lot of upset among customers. Virgin Media and Sky even took legal action against each other. However, they eventually reached an agreement in November 2008. This meant that Sky channels returned to Virgin Media, and Virgin Media's own channels continued to be shown on Sky. Both companies also agreed to drop their legal cases.
Becoming Part of Liberty Global
Until 2013, Virgin Media was listed on stock markets in the US and London. On February 5, 2013, Liberty Global, a large international cable company, announced it would buy Virgin Media for about $23.3 billion (£15 billion). The deal was approved and completed on June 7, 2013.
After this, Virgin Media continued to grow. In 2014, it bought Smallworld Fibre, another cable company, to expand its network. It also sold its ADSL internet business to TalkTalk Group to focus more on its cable internet.
In 2018, Virgin Media had another channel dispute, this time with UKTV. For three weeks, UKTV channels were not available on Virgin Media. This also made customers unhappy. Luckily, they reached a new agreement, and all the UKTV channels were brought back by August 15, 2018.
Joining with O2
On May 7, 2020, Liberty Global and Telefónica (which owns O2) agreed to combine their UK businesses: Virgin Media and O2. This huge deal, worth £31 billion, was approved and completed on June 1, 2021. This created a new, very large company called Virgin Media O2, which is a major competitor to BT Group in the UK.
How Virgin Media Works
Virgin Broadband: Fast Internet
Virgin Broadband brings together different internet services that used to be separate, like NTL's cable internet and Telewest's "Blueyonder."
Virgin Media calls its internet "fibre optic broadband." This means it uses a mix of fibre optic cables and other cables to deliver very fast internet. Fibre optic cables send data using light, which is super fast!
In tests by Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, Virgin Media Broadband often came first for speed. This is because Virgin Media owns its entire network, so it can control the speeds better than companies that rely on older phone lines. Virgin Media has always aimed to offer some of the fastest internet speeds in the UK.
Over the years, Virgin Media has constantly upgraded its broadband speeds. For example, in 2010, it launched a 100 Mbit/s service. By 2019, it started rolling out its "Gig1" package, offering speeds over 1,000 Mbit/s (1 Gigabit per second) in many major cities. This makes it one of the fastest internet providers available.
| 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 used to temporarily slow down internet speeds for some users during busy times, especially if they used a lot of data. This was called "bandwidth throttling." However, after feedback from customers and investigations, Virgin Media changed its policy. Now, Virgin Media says it does not slow down internet speeds for any of its broadband packages.
Internet Access on London Underground
In 2012, Virgin Media won a special agreement to provide Wi-Fi on London Underground platforms. This means you can get internet access at many Tube stations. Virgin Media customers and those from partner companies like Vodafone and EE can use it for free.
Virgin Media Business: For Companies
Since 2010, Virgin Media has a special part of its company called Virgin Media Business. This part focuses on providing internet and phone services specifically for other businesses, not just homes.
Virgin Phone: Landline Services
Virgin Phone offers landline telephone services for homes. It is the second largest landline provider in the UK, after BT Group. In 2010, Virgin Media started offering free calls from home phones to Virgin Mobile phones during certain times.
Virgin TV: Digital Television
Virgin TV is Virgin Media's digital cable television service. It is the second largest pay TV service in the UK, after Sky. Virgin TV offers a lot of on-demand content, meaning you can watch shows and movies whenever you want, with thousands of hours of programming available.
TV Channels Offered
Virgin TV has about 300 digital TV and radio channels. These include channels you pay for, special premium channels, and pay-per-view options where you pay for specific movies or events.
Past Services
Virgin Mobile (1999–2023)
Virgin Media used to run its own mobile phone service called Virgin Mobile. It started in 1999. However, after Virgin Media joined with Telefónica (which owns O2), it was decided that Virgin Mobile customers would move to the O2 network. This change was completed in August 2023, and Virgin Mobile stopped operating on August 31, 2023.
Virgin Media Television
Virgin Media used to own a group of TV channels called Virgin Media Television (VMtv). These included popular channels like Bravo, LIVING, and Challenge. In 2010, Virgin Media sold VMtv to BSkyB (Sky). This deal meant that Sky now owned these channels, and it also helped Virgin Media and Sky agree on showing each other's channels.
UKTV
UKTV is a network of digital TV channels that was a joint project between BBC Worldwide (the BBC's commercial part) and Virgin Media. It's one of the biggest TV companies in the UK, with channels like Yesterday and Dave. In 2011, Virgin Media sold its share in UKTV to another company called Scripps Networks Interactive.
Company Information
Who Owns Virgin Media?
When Virgin Media was first formed, Richard Branson's Virgin Group owned a part of it. This was part of the deal for using the "Virgin" brand name.
Later, in 2013, Liberty Global bought Virgin Media. This made Virgin Media part of a much larger international company.
Then, in 2021, Virgin Media merged with O2 to form Virgin Media O2. This new company is now the ultimate owner of Virgin Media's UK operations.
Market Position
Virgin Media is a big player in the UK market. As of 2014, it had about 20% of the broadband market, similar to Sky Broadband, but behind BT. By 2016, its share was slightly lower.
For TV, Virgin Television has millions of subscribers, making it the second largest pay TV service in the UK.
Advertising and Sponsorships
When Virgin Media launched in 2007, it had a big advertising campaign with famous actors like Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson.
Virgin Media also sponsored the TV show Big Brother for a few years. Later, they used the cartoon character Speedy Gonzales in their ads and even had Usain Bolt and Sir Richard Branson in commercials to promote their fast broadband.
In 2016, Virgin Media became the main shirt sponsor for the football club Southampton F.C..
Security Information
Data Security Incident
In March 2020, Virgin Media found out that a marketing database with personal details of about 900,000 customers had been left unprotected for 10 months. The company said that one of its staff members had not followed the correct security steps. Virgin Media quickly secured the database and started an investigation to understand what happened.
See also
In Spanish: Virgin Media para niños
- Virgin Media Television (Ireland) – a separate Liberty Global subsidiary which acquired TV channels from TV3 Group in 2015.
