Virgin Media 2009 Annual Report Download - page 14

High Definition Television
In 2009, we expanded our high definition, or HD, television offering with the introduction of six
linear HD channels: ESPN HD, LIVING HD, FX HD, MTV Networks HD, National Geographic
Channel HD and C4 HD. We also offer HD versions of BBC linear and on-demand content. As of
December 31, 2009, we offered approximately 260 hours of HD content on Virgin TV On Demand,
including BBC iPlayer, HD films and a range of HD TV programming such as Generation Kill, The
Sopranos and Planet Earth. Our HD content is available to our DTV and Free TV customers.
Digital Video Recorders
We offer one of the most advanced digital video recorders, or DVRs, in the U.K. Set-top boxes
equipped with DVRs digitally record television programming to a hard disk in real-time, which allows
customers to pause or rewind the program at any point during or after broadcast. The Virgin Media
DVR, which is called the ‘‘V+ Box’’, is available to our DTV customer base for a premium monthly
rental option or an up-front payment as part of our top tier package. The V+ Box has 160 Gigabytes
of hard disk storage space (up to 80 hours of broadcast television), is HD-enabled and has three
tuners, allowing viewers to record two programs while watching a third. Our V+ Box customers with an
HD-compatible television can also access our HD on-demand content. As of December 31, 2009, we
had approximately 862,000 V+ Box customers, representing 23.6% of our digital subscribers.
In 2009, we entered into a strategic partnership with TiVo Inc., or Tivo, to develop a next
generation set-top box which provides converged television and broadband internet capabilities. Under
the agreement, TiVo will become the exclusive provider of user interface software for our next
generation set-top boxes and we will become the exclusive distributor of TiVo services and technology
in the United Kingdom.
Fixed Line Telephony
We provide local, national and international telephony services to our residential customers on our
cable network. We offer a basic line rental service to our cable customers for a fixed monthly fee. In
addition to basic line rental, we also offer tiered bundles of features and services, including calling
plans that enable customers to make unlimited national landline calls during specified periods, for an
incremental fixed monthly fee. Our customers may also subscribe to additional services such as call
waiting, call blocking, call forwarding, three-way calling, advanced voicemail and caller line
identification services for an additional fee. As of December 31, 2009, we provided cable telephony
services to approximately 4.1 million residential subscribers.
Mobile Products and Services
We provide mobile telephony services through Virgin Mobile, a leading mobile virtual network
operator in the U.K. As a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, Virgin Mobile provides mobile
telephony services to its customers over cellular networks owned by third parties. Our customer base
comprises both pre-pay customers, who top up their accounts prior to using the services and have no
minimum contracted term, and contract customers, who subscribe to our services for periods ranging
from a minimum of 30 days up to 24 months. As of December 31, 2009, we had approximately
3.2 million mobile telephony customers, of which approximately 950,000 were contract customers.
We offer a broad range of mobile communications products and services, including mobile voice
services and data services, such as SMS, picture messaging, games, news and music services. We also
offer mobile broadband services which complement our fixed broadband offering. Our services are
delivered over 2G, 2.5G, 3G and 3.5G platforms provided by our network partner, T-Mobile.
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