Virgin Media and EE Extend their UK Virtual Mobile Operator Agreement

Cable operator Virgin Media has today confirmed that it will continue to fuel their Virgin Mobile platform, which serves approximately 3 million customers across the United Kingdom, through an extended Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement.

Apparently EE (Orange UK and T-Mobile) was selected based on the “strength of its network, its strong industry reputation and its flexible and technologically advanced MVNO platform“. It’s perhaps not unrealistic to expect a greater focus on the latest 4G (LTE at 1800MHz) services too.

Gerry McQuade, EEs Chief Marketing Officer (Non-consumer), said:

“We’re delighted that following a competitive industry tender, Virgin Media has again chosen to partner with EE and build on our longstanding and successful relationship. By choosing the EE network, Virgin Media will ensure its customers and around 14,000 employees continue to have access to the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network.”

Dana Strong , Virgin Media’s Chief Operating Officer, said:

“Combining the leading mobile network with our powerful broadband means Virgin Media customers get the best connectivity whether at home, out and about, or even beneath the streets of London. Having worked together for over a decade, this partnership between the world’s first virtual operator and what is now Britain’s most comprehensive mobile network is moving into an exciting new phase.”

It’s worth pointing out that T-Mobile use to supply the network to Virgin Media before they merged with Orange UK to become EE. The original deal dates back to the launch of Virgin Mobile in 1999, which claimed to be “the world’s first MVNO“.