Virgin Media’s UK Mobile Customers Set for July 2021 Price Rise
Customers of Virgin Media’s mobile base (Virgin Mobile), which is currently in the process of finishing up an MVNO platform transition from EE (BT) to Vodafone, have been notified by the operator of an impending 1.5% price rise that will hit them on 1st July 2021.
The increase, which will only hit their Pay Monthly and SIM-Only subscribers, is linked to inflation and thus will not trigger Ofcom’s rule on mid-contract hikes (i.e. the inflationary rise is written into their contracts) – this would otherwise enable customers to exit their contract penalty free. In fairness, a rise of 1.5% is fairly small compared to the c.4-6% increases we’ve seen at many of the other mobile operators’ this year.
The changes will only impact those who took out a Virgin Mobile contract BEFORE 5th May 2021 (i.e. the new rate will have already been factored into the price that newer customers pay). Pay As You Go (PAYG) subscribers are unaffected by this change.
A Virgin Media Spokesperson said:
“We’re committed to delivering the very best for our customers. We want to offer the best, most innovative mobile services possible, and to continue delivering the flexibility, speeds and products our customers expect from us, we occasionally need to review our pricing.”
Customers who are out of contract can of course cancel penalty free, although you need to give 30 days’ notice. Alternatively, customers could try contacting the operator directly and haggling for a lower price (Retentions – Tips for Cutting Your Broadband Bill).
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Cancel vm, it’s the only sensible thing to do.
Ok leave then and join EE or Vodafone as a new contract I think you might prefer the yearly increase of 3.9% plus CPI.
At least EE provide a decent service.
Over 2 months of repeated questions with dedicated person, trying to sort a botched (unasked) automatic transfer from Virgin EE to Virgin Vodafone.
Now back on Virgin EE, but something wrong as multiple issues still exist. Pop another SIM card from another provider and all the issues go away. Use 2 NEW phones with the Virgin SIM (which has been replaced) and the issues on them still.
@Mike
I do agree direct with EE is better in especially in more rural locations, since EE customer get access to 4G on 800MHz which Virgin doesn’t.
I do have a EE and VM sim most of the time minus the time when 800Mhz is in use VM 4G speed is very similar with EE.
I agree. They took me from a really good EE 4G link to a naff Vodafone 4G one – and then still wanted me to pay the monthlies – I was mid contract but as I was sent a letter saying I would not be switched over until December 2021 they let me leave – if that had not done it- this certainly would have!
You still on ee if you are 4g customer and 5G on Vodafone
Why does the article reference Pay As You Go users on Virgin Mobile, when there are none. I think they closed PAYG sometime ago.
There are still Pay As You Go and packs. Google it.
Don’t mind paying for good service. But my WiFi is getting worse. Top package…..a joke. When you check service status it says there are no problems. Will be switching. Can’t carry on working from home roaming to geta strong signal, or plugging into router.
Buy your own (mesh) wifi router if the service is otherwise good. Lots of guides online on what to do. You’ll be happy you did no matter what your ISP is.
Mike Virgin routers are renowned for being absolute cack. I agree a mesh router system will sort things out for you. Deco range from TP link is very good.
i had a problem with my neighbour, they switched to virgin, had a modem installed on the other side of our neighbouring wall, they installed 3 additional WiFi repeaters/extender and choked their router on the 2.4ghz band and their router was constantly smart channel switching because of their own congestion,
it hit me badly, i saw an 80% drop in speed when their router switched to the same channel as mine. with my single router in play and 5ghz not providing enough range, i was getting full speed on 2.4gz (same as wired to router) until their router channel choked me and all their extenders followed. i asked them to fix channel so we could isolate ourselves, they refused.
i called my provider, they looked into and confirmed their router & congestion was the issue. neighbour was having none of it.
my provider said nothing i can do regarding them, the most common problem they face, as I was getting full speed to the modem & WiFi is external (due to yours and neighbouring environment), it’s not the provider problem.
I had to spend money on cat 6 and 2 sets of tplink 1gbit homeplugs (only needed 3, 1 for router & 1 for each computer).
2 computers in bedrooms far side of the house are now part cat 6 & mains wired (homeplugs) and WiFi no longer an issue as not being used, i’m getting the same speeds as the plugged directly in to the modem.
you won’t see status issue for WiFi, that’s the wired network status. WiFi is your problem, it’s limited by your environment (neighbours equipment, brick walls, distance). they provide the service to your router, like BT provide service to the master socket, beyond those points it’s not their issue.
Virgin said “…we occasionally need to review our pricing.”
There’s a fabrication of truth.
Replace with:
“…we yearly as a minimum need to review our pricing, occasionally twice in a year”
I’m with To The Moon Mobile. They’re a new MVNO on the EE network.
Dont want to be stack with contract again. Now i can change my plan anytime.
Unbelievable we can’t trust them https://www.libertyglobal.com/ No No No