Virgin Media takes fight to Sky

A new combined TV, broadband, mobile and landline package has been launched.

ntl:Telewest and Virgin Mobile have joined forces to offer customers the chance to get four services from the same company, which will be known as Virgin Media.

Virgin Media will allow customers to mix and match different options depending on their requirements.

There are three different packages each for broadband, TV and landline calling, and mobile customers can choose between a pay monthly or pay-as-you-go deal.

Prices vary depending on the options selected but bundles start from £20 per month.

In addition, there will be a new TV channel called Virgin Central, launching on 20 February. It will offer on-demand content to cable customers and will be on channel 119. Programmes available will include West Wing and Little Britain.

Steve Burch, chief executive of Virgin Media said: "We have created something that no other company provides. Virgin Central will make TV-on-demand the simple, compelling service it should be."

The move puts Virgin Media in direct competition with BT Vision and Sky's new See, Speak and Surf package, as well as Tiscali's recently announced Tiscali TV service.

Close competition?

But some industry watchers think this might not be good news for competition in the market.

“Perhaps the biggest question is how will Sky react to the Virgin Media launch... it can already claim to cover more telephone exchanges than Virgin Media covers with its cable network," said Jason Lloyd of Moneysupermarket.com.

“This battle can only benefit consumers in the short term, but in the medium term it will reduce consumer choice,” said Lloyd.

But there are plenty of reasons that Virgin Media services will appeal to potential customers.

“A further big selling point of the cable range is that there are no monthly line rental fees – a real bugbear for many consumers – and this alone could save over £130 a year for most consumers," said Lloyd.

But there are some things that anyone considering signing up should be wary of, said Lloyd.

“Perhaps the only drawback is you have to pay Virgin Media a £25 installation fee for cable products. A further consideration worth mentioning is once you’ve made that change to the cable network, if you ever want to go back to BT, you’ll have to fork up £120."

Virgin Media services require a cable connection to deliver TV and broadband content. Cable is currently available to 12.5 million households in the UK but Virgin Media plans to reach 97 per cent of the population by the end of the year.

However, this target seems ambitious, according to service comparison website uSwitch.com.

Chris Frost of uSwitch said: "97 per cent availability by the end of 2007 is effectively doubling the current cable reach, and there remains a question mark about how this will be achieved.

"However, if it is, it will bring new competition to non-cable areas that for the first time will be presented with a choice of providers for premium movies and sports," said Frost.

http://www.virginmedia.com/

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