Virgin Media UK Launch Cheap 15Mbps Broadband for Universal Credit Users

Cable broadband ISP Virgin Media UK is to launch a budget 15Mbps internet access package that costs just £15 per month, which doesn’t have a fixed-term contract length but is only available to customers who are receiving Universal Credit. Furthermore, there will be no price changes while benefit payments are being received.

The new Essential Broadband plan, which is expected to launch sometime this “autumn“, operates off a short 30 day rolling monthly contract and if the customer ever stops receiving Universal Credit then they will be able to continue taking the service for £23 per month (or you can upgrade to a different plan).

The COVID-19 crisis has been extremely hard on the country in 2020 and many more job losses are expected in the future. At the same time broadband ISPs have been putting in place various measures to provide as much support as reasonably possible for those most in need (vulnerable customers) and this seems to the latest development.

The new plan will initially be made available to existing Virgin Media customers, who will be able to fall back on it and cut their bills if they find themselves with no option but to take out Universal Credit (you will of course be required to provide proof of that status).

Jeff Dodds, COO of Virgin Media, said:

“We know that these are tough times and that there are many people finding it more difficult to make ends meet and facing financial uncertainty. At the same time, the role of broadband in helping people to stay connected has never been clearer. Whether it’s keeping in touch with friends and family, finding advice and support or searching for jobs and working remotely – broadband underpins it all.

With this all in mind, we wanted to make sure that those customers receiving benefit payments were able to access reliable, hassle-free connectivity with enough speed to carry out essential online activities.

Building on the industry-leading initiatives we’ve already launched for vulnerable customers, we’ll continue to work tirelessly to keep the country connected and support our customers in whatever way we can.”

Matt Warman, UK Minister for Digital Infrastructure, said:

“Having affordable access to the internet can improve people’s quality of life, connecting them with friends and family and giving them a tool to build a brighter future. That is why the government brokered major deals with broadband companies to support those struggling to pay bills right now.

I want to see continued efforts to protect consumers beyond the pandemic and welcome Virgin Media offering a permanent package giving vulnerable and low-income families the flexibility to continue to benefit from reliable connectivity.”

Sadly, the announcement makes no mention of what happens to those who currently have a bundle with phone and don’t wish to lose their voice line in the process of downgrading. Likewise, there’s no mention of usage allowance (we assume it’s unlimited) or upload speeds, among other things, although we are checking and will report back soon.

Nevertheless, the new package should complement some of Virgin Media’s other recent changes, such as last year’s introduction of annual package reviews, as well as more flexible bill management through a specialist team and bespoke engineer visits.

In 2016, the provider also introduced its Talk Protected phone-only plan. This gave those customers over the age of 65 or those with additional accessibility needs a fixed-price home phone plan, with inclusive evening and weekend calls to UK landlines and mobiles alongside other benefits.

The operator has also taken action during the COVID-19 crisis to give customers the connectivity, data, entertainment and flexibility needed. This included providing 10GB of mobile data at no extra cost; introducing more kids and entertainment programming; removing data caps on any broadband plans that still had them, and giving customers more flexibility over their services such as the ability to temporarily pause sports subscriptions when live events were suspended.

Otherwise the new plan appears to be similar to BT’s Basic + Broadband plan, which costs just £10.07 per month for an unlimited 10Mbps (average speed) connection. But you also get a UK call allowance of £1.50, plus free weekend calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers (lasting up to 60 minutes) and there’s a monthly £10 price cap for home phones and mobiles. As before, this is only available to those on benefits.

UPDATE 9:29am

We spoke to VM and can confirm that the package comes with an uncapped data usage allowance and a 2Mbps upload speed. We also clarified that this is indeed a broadband-only service, which means that if an existing customer has a phone then they will not be able to retain that in the downgrade (“this will be clearly stated to them before they change their plan,” said the operator). A customer can still take a Virgin Mobile plan which will be billed separately, but there are cheaper operators for that.