Advanced Television

Virgin Media down 36,000 customers

July 27, 2011

UK quad-play operator Virgin Media lost 36,000 customers in the three months to the end of June, but reported higher income from its remaining customers.

According to Virgin Media, 90 per cent of the net disconnections were lower-value single or dual-play customers. The decline brings its total number of cable subscribers to 4.8 million.

It nevertheless reported an improved mix of higher value customers paying for quality services, suggesting that the value and mix of customer base continues to improve, with half of new broadband customers taking 30Mb tier or higher, compared to 18 per cent a year ago taking 20Mb or above.

The average spend per user rose 3.2 per cent to £47.35 a month, as Virgin tried to concentrate on higher-spending customers.

Neil Berkett, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Media, said there was a growing and increasingly broad-based population of people who were becoming dependent on next generation digital technology and were prepared to pay for quality services.

“During the first half, we have continued to focus relentlessly on delivering superior services tailored to the needs of these data-hungry households and businesses. The increasing demand is evident in a 25 per cent increase in data consumption among Virgin Media’ s customers in just six months who have watched and downloaded more content then ever before. This trend is rapidly transforming the profile of our subscriber base, with more than half of all new broadband customers choosing 30Mb or higher compared to just 18 per cent a year ago.”

He reported that during the quarter, Virgin had seen an encouraging early take-up of Virgin Media TiVo, its “game-changing” entertainment platform.

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