Virgin Media Broadband Gains Increase Revenues In Q3

Virgin Media marked its first full quarter under the ownership of Liberty Global by adding 250,000 to its total number of superfast broadband subscribers in the past three months.

The company added 30,000 brand new broadband subscribers during the third quarter, and of that number, 45 percent opted to receive speeds of 60Mbps or faster. This means that 3 million, or 69 percent, of the firm’s 4.3 million broadband customers now receive superfast broadband services of 30Mbps or faster.

Virgin also added 165,000 new TiVo subscribers during the quarter, with half of new customers opting for the service, with half of its customer base now on TiVo subscriptions. The firm’s Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) also saw pay monthly subscriptions rise by 58,000 to 1.9 million.

Virgin Media results

These combined gains resulted in revenues of £1.023 billion, a two percent rise from the previous quarter, with Virgin claiming this shows it is not being affected by increased competition from BT and its free BT Sport channels – which are available on Virgin Media’s TV platform.

“This summer we saw heightened marketing and promotions around the launch of BT Sport yet, while not chasing growth at any cost, we again increased the number of customers we serve,” said Tom Mockridge, Virgin Media’s chief executive officer. “We are seeing people’s demand for faster broadband accelerate, even after we had completed our programme to double customers’ speeds earlier this year. A quarter of a million more homes are now getting 30Mb or faster from us than three months ago, with over 45 percent of our new subscribers choosing 60Mb or above.”

Liberty Global era

He added: “In what is a competitive market, there is clearly emerging recognition of the benefits of faster broadband and advanced television. As part of Liberty Global, we are well positioned to begin to take advantage of these opportunities and meet the growing demand for digital from switched on families.”

US cable giant Liberty Global completed its takeover of Virgin Media earlier this year for £15 billion, but has agreed a 30 year licensing deal to continue using the Virgin brand. Liberty owns 58 percent of  Belgium’s Telenet, and has networks in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Chile, and the suggestion is that Virgin Media might eventually become part of a pan-European triple-play cable provider, offering broadband, telephone and television services across the continent.

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