Virgin Media 2007 Annual Report Download - page 11

of our residential customers on our network, which we refer to as ‘‘on-net’’, received multiple services
from us and approximately 49.5% of our on-net customers were ‘‘triple-play’’.
With our acquisition of Virgin Mobile in July 2006, Virgin Media began offering the U.K.’s first
‘‘quad-play’’ of television, broadband, fixed line telephone and mobile telephone services to residential
customers. We expect to drive both mobile and cable penetration through the two customer bases by
applying our past experience of cross selling products. See ‘‘Mobile Segment’’ below.
As part of our rebrand in 2007, we renamed our product offerings and bundles so they are easy to
understand. For each of our products, we have a range of packages and tariffs for customers to choose
from and have labeled them as Medium (M), Large (L) and Extra Large (XL). For example, we
currently offer a 2Mb broadband service as Medium, a 4Mb service as Large and a 20Mb service as
Extra Large. In 2008, we plan to increase the speed of our 4Mb service to 10Mb, strengthen the
capacity of our 20Mb service and launch a 50Mb service, resulting in four tiers of broadband service at
2Mb, 10Mb, 20Mb and 50Mb. From time to time, we may enhance the value of our M, L or XL
bundles as we did in 2007 by increasing the speed of our 10Mb broadband service to 20Mb, and by
offering the Setanta Sports channels to our XL customers at no additional cost.
Cable Television
We offer a wide range of digital, or DTV, and analog, or ATV, television services. As of
December 31, 2007, we provided cable television services to approximately 3.5 million residential
customers, of which approximately 3.3 million received our DTV service and approximately 0.2 million
received our ATV service.
Our DTV service includes access to over 130 television channels, advanced interactive features,
and a range of premium and pay-per-view services. Our ATV service packages offer up to 60 television
channels, including premium services. In addition to offering the basic and premium pay TV channels,
we also offer our DTV customers one of the most comprehensive Video on Demand, or VOD, services
in the U.K. called ‘‘Virgin TV On Demand’’. See ‘‘Virgin TV On Demand’’ below.
Our network technology enables us to deliver a significant range of digital interactive services over
an ‘always on’ broadband connection from the network to a customer’s home. Examples of interactive
services provided include games, television email and access to news, entertainment and information
services from an on-screen menu. Interactive services also include enhanced television functionality
utilizing the ‘‘red button’’ applications from the BBC and other commercial broadcasters. ‘‘Red button’’
functionality in the U.K. permits television viewers to press a red button on their remote control
handset to receive additional interactive services including multiple broadcasts. For example, in a
Wimbledon tennis broadcast, a customer can press the red button and choose which match to watch.
In 2007, we introduced ‘‘Free TV’’ for customers who purchase a Size M fixed line telephone
service from us where, similar to Freeview, customers can access over 40 linear channels and radio
services such as Virgin 1, Five US, Five, E4 and UKTV History as well as Setanta Sports News. In
addition, customers also have access to red button functionality and Virgin TV On Demand.
Virgin TV On Demand
Virgin TV On Demand is a significant enhancement to the existing DTV service, offering viewers
choice over and above scheduled programming without any requirement for new equipment, installation
or additional subscription. The VOD service provides access to thousands of hours of premium movies,
music videos, and TV programs and series on demand. It appears within the existing electronic
programming guide, and can be accessed and viewed at any time via the remote control. The service
offers DVD-style features including freeze frame, fast-forward and rewind. These features provide a
customer with control over the content and timing of their television viewing. This service is available
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