Cable operator Virgin Media (Liberty Global) has reportedly sold 100,000 of its old copper-line based Virgin National (Virgin.net / ADSL2+) broadband subscribers to rival ISP TalkTalk.
The Virgin National service, which peaked at 275,900 customers during early 2011, was officially closed to new subscribers in October 2013 (here) after suffering repeated declines. At the time Liberty Global said they simply wanted to “focus on developing services on our next generation cable network“, but they also pledged to continue to provide “services and support for all of our existing National customers“.
The ADSL based service had originally been intended to complement the operator’s cable platform and give Virgin a reach into non-cable areas, although instead it often felt neglected and received very little attention from its parent. The service, which offered variable top speeds of up to around 20Mbps, could also never keep up with Virgin’s cable (Euro/DOCSIS) service that can deliver top speeds of 152Mbps.
Earlier this year we reported that Virgin Media had effectively put related customers up for sale by sending “information packs” with the relevant details out to “prospective buyers“. At the time a spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk, “We do not comment on speculation.”
Never the less a new report on the FT, which has been spotted by Thinkbroadband, appears to confirm that the customers are now being sold to TalkTalk. It’s not known how much the ISP has paid, although the deal didn’t show up in their recent Q3 2014 results.
UPDATE 13th November 2014
We’ve managed to extract a few comments from both providers.
A Virgin Media Spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:
“As we continue to invest in, and expand, our own superfast, fibre optic network, the time is right to hand over our DSL service. We are working closely with TalkTalk to ensure the transition is seamless and people have everything they need to make the switch.”
A TalkTalk Spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:
“We are pleased to have agreed this deal which reflects the scale and quality of our network. We look forward to welcoming these customers to TalkTalk and will be working closely with Virgin Media to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible. These customers will be able to benefit from our full range of great value products, including TV and mobile, and we aim to make all of them better off.”
Naturally we also asked TalkTalk what service Virgin’s customers would be switched too and how this might impact their existing email accounts etc. Sadly the ISP could only say that they’ll be speaking to all related customers about what this means for them over the coming weeks.
However TalkTalk does believe that a lot of the affected customers will be able to get their superfast FTTC broadband and TV services (Virgin could only ever offer them slower ADSL2+).
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