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Virgin Media O2
British mass media and telecommunications company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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VMED O2 UK Limited,[1] trading as Virgin Media O2, is a British mass media and telecommunications company based in Reading, England. The company was formed in June 2021 as a 50–50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica through the merger of their respective Virgin Media and O2 UK businesses.[2][3][4]
O2 UK is the largest mobile network in the United Kingdom by customer base, providing 5G, 4G, 3G (until late 2025), and 2G services, and Virgin Media is the main cable provider in the UK, providing cable (HFC) and fibre-to-the-premises broadband, cable television (Virgin TV), and cable landline services.
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Origins
O2 and acquisition by Telefónica
O2 UK was formed in 1983 as Telecom Securicor Cellular Radio Limited,[5] a joint venture between British Telecom (BT) (60%) and Securicor (40%). In 1985, it launched Cellnet, which alongside Vodafone was one of the two original mobile networks in the UK. BT later acquired Securicor's share, and rebranded the network as BT Cellnet.[6] In 2001, British Telecom announced it would spin off its BT Wireless division, which included BT Cellnet, as mmO2 plc (later O2 plc), and introduced the O2 brand ahead of the demerger.[7] The demerger was completed later that year, and in 2002, BT Cellnet was rebranded O2.[8] O2 plc was acquired by Spanish telecoms firm Telefónica in 2006.
NTL:Telewest, Virgin Mobile and Virgin.net
In March 2006, cable telecommunications firms NTL and Telewest merged, having been in discussions since 2003, forming NTL:Telewest. In 2004, NTL had acquired ADSL and dial-up provider Virgin.net.[9]
In April 2006, NTL:Telewest announced a £962 million offer to acquire Virgin Mobile UK, which Richard Branson largely accepted via a mix of cash and shares, becoming the largest shareholder with a 10.7% stake.[10] The acquisition was completed in June 2006, creating the UK's first "quadruple play" telecommunications company offering television, internet, landline, and mobile phone services.[11][12][13] Following the acquisition of Virgin Mobile, NTL:Telewest secured a 30-year licence from Branson's Virgin Group to use the Virgin brand.[10] Additionally, Virgin Enterprises Limited gained the right to nominate a board director.[14] In February 2007, NTL:Telewest was rebranded as Virgin Media.[15][16] In 2013, Virgin Media was acquired by John Malone's Liberty Global.[17]
Merger of Virgin Media and O2 UK
In May 2020, it was reported that Telefónica and Liberty Global were in talks to merge their respective O2 and Virgin Media businesses in the UK.[18]
The merger was completed on 1 June 2021, with Liberty Global and Telefónica each holding a 50% stake in Virgin Media O2, the new holding company for the businesses. This represented the largest ever UK telecoms deal, and the biggest UK merger in a decade.[19]
Post-merger
In October 2021, the company introduced a package of complimentary benefits known as 'Volt' for households with Virgin Media broadband who have at least one O2 Pay Monthly plan, applicable to both new and existing customers.[20][21][22] These include:
- All eligible O2 Pay Monthly SIMs registered at the household receive double data on plans with a data allowance of up to 250GB. Plans with a data allowance above 250GB are upgraded to Unlimited.[23]
- The O2 Travel Inclusive Zone bolt-on, providing inclusive roaming in 75 international destinations (including the 48 standard Europe Zone destinations, where inclusive data is limited to 25GB of each plan's monthly data allowance[24]) including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, is added to all eligible O2 Pay Monthly SIMs registered at the household.[25] Calls and texts to and from the UK and country in which the SIM is roaming, and data usage (except in the Europe Zone) are unlimited, subject to fair usage policies.
- The household's Virgin Media broadband is automatically upgraded to the next available speed tier (e.g. 350Mbps to 500Mbps, or 500Mbps to 1Gbps) without downtime or an engineer visit.[26]
- Households can claim up to three Wi-Fi extender pods for areas of the property with a weak Wi-Fi signal, free of charge.[26]
On 15 November 2021, Virgin Media O2 extended access to O2 Priority, providing exclusive perks, ticket presales, and experiences previously exclusive to O2 customers, to Virgin Media customers, allowing them full access to the O2 Priority app.[27]
On 24 July 2023, it was announced that Virgin Media O2 was cutting up to 2,000 members of staff by the end of 2023.[28]
In August 2023, the company announced that it had moved all Virgin Mobile UK customers to the O2 network. It had advised customers in January 2023 that they would be transferring. Virgin Mobile no longer offer new plans or services, but existing customers are still legally contracted under Virgin Mobile.[29]
In September 2023, it was announced Virgin Media O2 had acquired the UK-regional broadband business, Upp.[30]
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