{"id":25411,"date":"2021-02-16T07:51:49","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T07:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=25411"},"modified":"2021-02-16T15:30:52","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T15:30:52","slug":"virgin-media-uk-tops-5-42-million-broadband-users-as-network-grows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/02\/virgin-media-uk-tops-5-42-million-broadband-users-as-network-grows.html","title":{"rendered":"Virgin Media UK Tops 5.42 Million Broadband Users as Network Grows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broadband ISP and TV provider Virgin Media<\/a> UK (Liberty Global) has just published their latest Q4 2020 results, which saw their network coverage extend to another 115,000 premises and their internet access base add +54,700 new customers (up from +47k in the previous quarter) to total 5,420,100.<\/p>\n

Since the prior results Virgin Media<\/a> has seen a number of changes, such as the start of upgrades to their new 636Mbps broadband bundle (here<\/a>) and parent Liberty Global promoting a move to DOCSIS<\/a> 4.0<\/strong> technology with future speeds of 10Gbps (here<\/a>). The operator has also launched their new next generation TV 360 platform (here<\/a>) and they’ve continued to extend their 1Gbps DOCSIS<\/a> 3.1<\/strong> upgrade to more areas (here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the Competition and Markets Authority<\/strong> (CMA) is still busy examining what regulatory concerns may exist around Virgin Media<\/a>’s proposed \u00a331bn<\/strong> mega merger with mobile operator O2<\/a> (here<\/a>), although it remains to be seen if this will result in any significant obstacles. On top of that Virgin’s new \u00a315 per month “Essential Broadband<\/em>” plan, which is intended for those who receive Universal Credit, has also gone live (here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Finally, the operator’s mobile division (Virgin Mobile) launched their first Vodafone<\/a> (MVNO) based 5G<\/a> plans (here<\/a>), introduced their Intelligent Wi-Fi Plus mesh solution (here<\/a>) and also made their unlimited mobile data tariff available to all (here<\/a>). Otherwise, we note that VM’s mobile and internet base continues to grow, while their fixed line phone and video (TV) customers are still in decline.<\/p>\n

Quarterly UK Customer Figures for Q4 2020<\/strong><\/span>
\n5,420,100 Internet – (up from 5,365,400 in Q3 2020)
\n4,463,200 Phone \/ VoIP – (down from 4,489,800)
\n3,358,300 Mobile – (up from 3,349,600)
\n3,498,000 Video \/ TV – (down from 3,525,500)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As usual the results also included an update on the pace of their Project Lightning<\/strong> network roll-out, which has so far added a total of 2.5 million UK premises since 2015\/16 and that includes another 115,000 premises that were added to their network coverage during the last quarter (down from 125,000 in the previous quarter). This may have been impacted by the brief pre-Christmas lockdown in Q4 2020.<\/p>\n

As it stands Virgin Media has civil engineering contracts that will see their build continue for the next few years and they have big ambitions for the future. Last year the operator spoke of their “ambition to accelerate investments and connect a further 7 million homes to gigabit broadband in the coming years<\/em>,” although the details of precisely how they’ll approach that remain unclear (here<\/a>), pending the outcome of their O2<\/a> merger.<\/p>\n

Project Lightning Rollout Since 2017<\/strong><\/span>
\nQ4 2020 = 115,000 Premises (impacted by COVID-19)
\nQ3 2020 = 125,000 Premises
\nQ2 2020 = 93,000 Premises (impacted by COVID-19)
\nQ1 2020 = 93,000 Premises (some impact from COVID-19)
\nQ4 2019 = 154,000 Premises
\nQ3 2019 = 119,000 Premises
\nQ2 2019 = 130,000 Premises
\nQ1 2019 = 102,000 Premises
\nQ4 2018 = 144,000 Premises
\nQ3 2018 = 109,000 Premises
\nQ2 2018 = 118,000 Premises
\nQ1 2018 = 111,000 Premises (likely impacted by heavy snow)
\nQ4 2017 = 159,000 Premises
\nQ3 2017 = 147,000 Premises
\nQ2 2017 = 127,000 Premises
\nQ1 2017 = 102,000 Premises<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> Virgin’s UK network now covers a total of 15,310,800 UK homes passed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The previous cost per premises estimate for their network expansion was c.\u00a3605 “with scope for this to fall further<\/em>” and they’ve been achieving a respectable 30-35% penetration after 3 years. The good news is that their cost per premises figure has now fallen to \u00a3590 in Q4, thanks to greater use of Openreach<\/a>’s Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product, and they expect that downward cost trend to continue.<\/p>\n

On the financial front Virgin Media reported total quarterly revenue of \u00a31,336.6<\/span>m (up from \u00a31,291.4m in the previous quarter), although we should add that this particular figure includes their Ireland operations too as they haven’t included a split for the UK.<\/p>\n

Lutz Sch\u00fcler, CEO of Virgin Media, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“2020 was a year like no other. I am immensely proud of how our people have risen to the challenges presented by the global pandemic. They have remained committed to our plan and have worked tirelessly to provide essential connectivity and entertainment services for our customers. Our convergence strategy is delivering; it contributed to record low churn, our highest fixed customer additions since 2017 and record postpaid mobile additions.<\/p>\n

Our gigabit rollout has continued at pace and we are now the largest provider of 1Gbps speeds in each of our markets reaching 7.1 million homes in the U.K. and 98% of homes across our Irish footprint. In Q4, we launched Virgin TV 360, our next generation TV platform, transforming our customers\u2019 viewing experience. Innovation has continued into 2021 with recent launches of Intelligent WiFi<\/a> Plus and 5G<\/a> services.<\/p>\n

2020 marked the second year of our plan to return to sustainable growth and I am delighted with the progress we have made. Our programme of investments will continue in 2021, creating a solid foundation for our combination with O2<\/a> and contributing towards significant FCF growth in the future.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At present 2021 is shaping up to be another big year for Virgin Media. The operator has a huge mega merger with O2 to deliver and we may also find out what their final plans are for establishing a new alternative network in the UK (Virgin Media Networks Limited<\/strong><\/a>), which could potentially serve rural premises (with FTTP<\/a>) – beyond VM’s existing network area (here<\/a>) – and may even offer wholesale access to rival ISPs (here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In an ideal world we’d also like to see them apply the DOCSIS<\/a> 3.1 upgrade to their upstream channels too (possibility for better upload speeds and faster latency), but it’s plausible that they may wait to do that until after their general DOCSIS 3.1 downstream rollout has completed at the end of 2021. Finally, at some point, we’d love to see them adopt IPv6, but the goal posts on that seem to shift more frequently than COVID-19 can mutate.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, it’s noted that the average speed across their UK broadband base has increased again to 174Mbps at the end of Q4, while data consumption during the quarter increased 48% year-on-year. Virgin Media is also the largest gigabit speed provider in the UK, where their Gig1 service is available in 46% of their footprint representing 7.1 million premises.<\/p>\n

\n
 <\/div>\n