Virgin Media Business Wholesale Commits to UK Price Freeze
The wholesale division of Virgin Media O2 Business (VMO2), which supplies other UK broadband ISPs and network operators with connectivity services, has today informed their partners that they will not be raising prices for new business or existing services across all products throughout 2024.
This “freeze on back book prices” follows the operator’s announcement in December that new business acquisition rates would not be raised in 2024 at any bandwidth. The decision is said to underpin the company’s “dedication to customers, by reassuring partners that their existing estate will not be subject to any price increases this year.”
The move is said to be recognising the challenging trading climate that many network operators currently face.
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John Chester, Wholesale Fixed Director at VMO2 Business, said:
“In comparison to rising prices across the industry, we’re freezing our rates so that we can guarantee our partners a sense of predictability over the coming months. While we face our own cost pressures, our partners need an assurance of price certainty so they can maintain sales volumes with their own resellers and customers. Our market rates are already competitive, and this freeze demonstrates our commitment to long-term partnerships and our belief that price certainty fosters mutual success.”
Just to be clear, this is for Virgin’s wholesale division and not their consumer or SME facing packages. But it remains to be seen whether or not this will precipitate a greater price increase further down the road to compensate for the freeze.
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, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Clear evidence that VMO2 are milking consumers with their RPI + 3.9% price increases while the “real world” costs are frozen (or even falling).
Whilst I agree they are milking the residential customers with the increases, along with all other providers, I imagine the wholesale customers cost isn’t too much to keep up and running. For example dark fibre, once it’s up and running, the ongoing costs are pretty minimal, if anything at all whilst yielding a large return. There will be rising costs for stuff like Ethernet circuits, with electricity rises etc, but the equipment is high grade stuff and pretty reliable, and can sit there for years and years with no issues.
Well my EAD circuit is £265.. I have a 3 year term but I can terminate after 12 months with 30 days notice. It’s an odd one but it works and the circuit works very well. The price is also locked in for 12 months so if it does rise I can leave at least.
Better than the BT one I had before which did have the rises every 12 months. In the end it got too much which is what I dumped BT when the 3 years was up.
You forgot about the Daisy one provided over Neos.
What happened to the 10gig and the Virgin Media Business service?
Well this is a Virgin Media Business service, only provided by 2connect instead of direct. I’ve never used Daisy or Neos, sorry wrong person.
Incredible.
I love Starlink stopped posting and a few days later you started posting. You both reckon you have Starlink, sometimes, leased line at home, Virgin Media network really near, CityFibre stopped building before they got to you, Zzoomm building just outside your town and both seem to have worked for BT recently.
So many coincidences. Couldn’t make it up.
You don’t have a Virgin Media Business service. If you were actually 50 metres from their network they’d have built a duct to you. It would’ve cost them about the same as the EAD install fee you would have been charged for a 12 month contract.
They routinely do digs to reach DIA customers. They did for one of our premises to extend the network and then to get from public grounds to the building across a courtyard. No extra charges.
They’re just the latest in your list of fantasy providers you like to pretend to have to make you feel better than everyone else when you’re actually stuck with FTTC at home. 🙂 Wonder whose install you’re pretending is yours this time? It’s a holiday park for the Starlink and someone else’s holiday home for the altnet isn’t it?
Love from Think Broadband forums. You’re missed. Toodles.
Start of the panic, people leaving……
Obviously they can afford to do this while they continue to fleece their domestic customers and don’t offer decent prices to their long standing customers
So true, we used to have: cable TV, land line (elderly parents need it), Internet…
No more with them as they were charging so much for established customers and even a retention’s manager rang me to ask why I had left. They could not service match or price match anything.
They are living in cloud cuckoo land if they think their business plan will work for long term customers.
Any update on 2gig coming to RoFG and Docsis 3.1 areas? Surely there’s plans as theres a 2.5gb port on the Hub 5.
Always felt VM were pulling a fast one with RPI v CPI and where do Virgin’s costs have any relation to the basket of goods in RPI. Anyway at least they will be forced to ditch that method shortly.