Virgin Media 2010 Annual Report Download - page 15

which complement our fixed broadband offering. Our services are delivered over 2G, 2.5G, 3G and 3.5G
platforms provided by our network partner, Everything Everywhere.
In 2010, we continued to focus on increasing our proportion of higher value contract customers, improving
access to content via our mobile platform, expanding our range of higher value mobile handsets and cross-selling
into homes already connected to our cable network. We continued to promote the use of our mobile platform to
view internet and television content by introducing features such as easier access to social networking
applications via the mobile handset.
Non-cable Products and Services
We also provide broadband and telephone services to residential customers outside of our cable network, or
non-cable customers, over third-party telecommunications networks. Our non-cable broadband internet services
are provided via BT’s local access network and unbundled BT exchanges from Cable & Wireless plc, or C&W.
We offer various price and feature packages, including broadband service of up to 20 Mb. As of December 31,
2010, we had approximately 276,700 non-cable broadband subscribers. We also provide fixed line telephone
service to non-cable customers via BT’s local access network. As of December 31, 2010, we provided non-cable
fixed line telephone service to approximately 169,600 subscribers.
Marketing and Sales
Our consumer strategy focuses primarily on marketing bundled offerings of products and services across our
“quad-play” portfolio to existing and potential customers. We are in particular focusing on our cable customers,
most of whom are not yet mobile telephone customers. Our bundling strategy provides our customers with
discounts from the price of buying our services separately and the convenience of a single bill for “triple-play”
packages. We believe that customers who subscribe to multiple services from us are less likely to churn. We also
actively pursue opportunities to cross-sell complementary services across our product range and up-sell higher
value services to our existing customers.
We offer our consumer products and services through a broad range of retail channels, including via
telesales, customer care centers, online and points of sale. We also engage in direct marketing initiatives through
a dedicated national sales force of approximately 300 representatives, as well as comprehensive national and
regional mass media advertising initiatives. In 2010, we significantly expanded our portfolio of own brand stores
with the opening of 20 Virgin Media branded retail stores and the introduction of 14 Virgin Media branded
shopping center kiosks. Our own brand stores and kiosks offer a complete range of our consumer products and
services and, on average, more than half of customers that subscribed to our services at one of our own brand
stores during 2010 subscribed to one of our triple-play or quad-play product bundles. As of December 31, 2010,
we had in aggregate 78 own brand stores and 36 kiosks.
In February 2010, we announced our agreement with a leading electronics retailer, Best Buy, to showcase
and sell Virgin Media products in their stores in the U.K. We also offer our mobile telephony products through
approximately 4,300 third party sales outlets in the U.K., including approximately 1,300 specialist outlets of our
distribution partners, such as Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U. In addition, we offer SIM-only products and
mobile airtime vouchers through independent retailers across the U.K.
Customer Service
We believe that effective customer service contributes to customer satisfaction, which results in reduced
churn and improved acquisition rates of new customers. As of December 31, 2010, we employed approximately
1,800 staff for our cable and non-cable call centers, and approximately 600 staff for our mobile telephony call
centers, in the U.K. We also use outsourced consumer call centers in the U.K., India and South Africa.
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