Virgin Media 2008 Annual Report Download - page 11

network has optical fiber generally closer to a customer’s home than BT Group plc, or BT, or
our other competitors who use BT’s access network, which we believe allows us to provide a
superior broadband experience to our customers. BT’s access infrastructure is copper pair
technology over which broadband speeds can significantly diminish in relation to the distance
from the local exchange.
• It provides real two-way interactivity with residential customers who are connected to the
network, which enables us to offer video-on-demand services through the set-top box.
• It enables us to provide true ‘‘triple-play’’ bundled services of broadband, television and fixed
line telephone services to residential customers in our franchise areas without relying on another
service provider or network.
In contrast:
• Direct to home satellite service providers do not have the capacity to offer two-way interactivity
except by adding a phone line from another service provider or other cable facility.
• Currently, other communication service providers have only a limited capacity to provide video
using DSL technology over BT’s existing copper access network. Future capacity improvements
would be dependent on BT’s ability to successfully implement significant upgrades to its access
network, requiring substantial capital investment.
Broadband Internet
We deliver high-speed broadband internet services to customers within reach of our access network
by direct connection to our cable network. In 2008, we upgraded our 4Mb customers to 10Mb,
strengthened the capacity of our 20Mb service and launched a 50Mb service, which we expect to be
available to our entire broadband capable network in 2009.
Our broadband internet offering currently focuses on three tiers of high-speed broadband service
at speeds of up to 10Mb for Size L customers, up to 20Mb for Size XL customers and up to 50Mb for
Size XXL customers. Our customers within each of these tiers also benefit from unlimited usage
(subject to our fair usage policy) and advanced personal computer security software. We also offer a
broadband service of up to 2Mb for Size M customers, which we plan to upgrade to 10Mb beginning in
May 2009. We intend to continue to focus our efforts on increasing our market share by marketing the
benefits of our high-speed broadband service to both existing and potential customers. As of
December 31, 2008, we provided on-net broadband services to approximately 3.7 million subscribers.
We also provide broadband internet services, via BT’s local access network and unbundled BT
exchanges from Cable & Wireless plc, or C&W, to ‘‘off-net’’ customers not directly connected to our
cable broadband network. Various price and feature packages are available including broadband service
of up to 16Mb. As of December 31, 2008, we had approximately 252,000 broadband subscribers using
this service.
We operate a web portal, virginmedia.com, which is regularly in the top ten of most visited sites in
the U.K. and in the top 15 by page ranking. Our website offers a broad range of content, such as
music, movies and television programming, including near-live clips of English football highlights. Our
customers are also able to access their email accounts and customer care information through our
website. The website generates revenue from advertising and search engines. We also use the website to
cross-promote our entire product range. In 2009, we will continue to develop additional entertainment
and customer care features for our website, with particular emphasis on online account management
and help services.
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