CEO of Virgin Media UK Calls for Vital Clarity on Brexit to Avoid No Deal

The CEO of UK cable broadband ISP and TV operator Virgin Media, Tom Mockridge, has called on the country’s political parties to put their differences aside and deliver clarity when the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal with the EU is voted on tomorrow. “Clarity is vital … for the sake of stability and greater certainty,” said Tom.

There are few debates or decisions more divisive than Brexit. You can see that simply by talking to people in the street and by the on-going lack of any solid direction or agreement coming from MPs at Westminster. The country continues to be split and it seems increasingly unlikely that tomorrow’s key vote will bring any kind of resolution to this state of affairs before Brexit Day (29th March 2019).

The situation is particularly tedious for telecoms operators like Virgin Media, which is owned by Liberty Global that has various operators, complicated relationships and supply chains to consider across the EU. The company is currently investing c.£3bn into the UK to fuel its Project Lightning network expansion, which originally aspired to cover an extra 4 million UK premises by the end of 2019 but now seems likely to achieve far less.

Rival operators like BT, O2 and Vodafone are also in similarly complex positions, where any deviation from the current EU framework could create some difficult operational and financial challenges. On top of that some operators, such as BT, have large contracts with the EU’s political institutions that could now end up being scrapped in favour of sourcing similar services from rival EU based operators.

Tom Mockridge, CEO of Virgin Media, told ISPreview.co.uk:

“A no-deal Brexit would leave us with more questions than answers.

As a major investor in this country, clarity is vital – the uncertainty that has hung over British businesses for many months must come to an end.

Political differences should be put to one side for the sake of stability and greater certainty. That’s what Britain needs most at this time.”

Somehow we doubt that the certainty Virgin Media and others seek will arrive by the end of play tomorrow.