Virgin Media 2010 Annual Report Download - page 62

Summary Cable Statistics
Selected statistics for our cable customers, for the three months ended December 31, 2010 as well as the
four prior quarters, are set forth in the table below. Our net customer movement for the three months ended
December 31, 2010 was an increase of 17,100 customers being the net of gross additions and disconnections (net
additions). Customer churn remained relatively stable throughout the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009
and average monthly churn was 1.3% in the three months ended December 31, 2010 compared to 1.2% in the
three months ended December 31, 2009. The total number of cable products grew to 11,951,600 at December 31,
2010 from 11,678,300 at December 31, 2009, representing a net increase in products of 273,300.
Three months ended
December 31,
2010
September 30,
2010
June 30,
2010
March 31,
2010
December 31,
2009
Opening customers(1) .............. 4,783,000 4,768,900 4,761,800 4,723,500 4,694,900
Customer additions ............... 206,600 236,000 188,600 193,100 198,600
Customer disconnects(2) ............ (189,500) (221,900) (181,500) (154,800) (170,000)
Net customer additions ............ 17,100 14,100 7,100 38,300 28,600
Closing customers(1) .............. 4,800,100 4,783,000 4,768,900 4,761,800 4,723,500
Cable churn(1)(3) .................. 1.3% 1.6% 1.3% 1.1% 1.2%
Cable products:
Television(1) ................. 3,778,800 3,766,700 3,751,900 3,729,600 3,693,900
DTV (included in
Television) ............ 3,759,600 3,745,900 3,728,700 3,702,800 3,656,200
ATV (included in
Television)(1) .......... 19,200 20,800 23,200 26,800 37,700
Telephone .................. 4,161,700 4,161,000 4,175,300 4,178,000 4,146,600
Broadband .................. 4,011,100 3,969,800 3,936,000 3,910,100 3,837,800
Total cable products .............. 11,951,600 11,897,500 11,863,200 11,817,700 11,678,300
Cable products/Customer(1)
2.49x 2.49x 2.49x 2.48x 2.47x
Triple-play penetration(1) ........... 63.0% 62.7% 62.4% 61.9% 61.1%
Cable Average Revenue Per
User(1)(4) ...................... £ 47.51 £ 46.38 £ 45.88 £ 45.01 £ 45.28
Cable ARPU calculation:
Cable revenue (millions) ........... £ 682.8 £ 662.6 £ 656.4 £ 640.0 £ 640.1
Average customers(1) .............. 4,790,000 4,763,400 4,768,800 4,739,500 4,712,600
(1) As part of our analog switch off program during the first quarter of 2010 we identified 49,300 analog customers as of December 31, 2009
that we did not expect to convert to digital products and services. These customers were previously reflected in our Summary Cable
Statistics as both customers and ATV products. As they did not receive any directly billable services from us they were not included in
our Summary Cable Statistics commencing with the first quarter of 2010. To ensure our statistics are presented on a comparable basis,
we have removed 49,300 customers from our customer and ATV product numbers for all previously reported periods. The following
statistics were recalculated: Opening and Closing customers, Cable churn, Cable products—Television and ATV, Cable
products/Customer, Triple-play penetration, Cable ARPU, Average customers.
(2) During the second half of the year, we reviewed our credit and collections reporting processes and aligned the way we measure
disconnections with our underlying operational process. As a result, we estimate that reported gross disconnects decreased by 6,300
customers, representing 15,300 products, and 4,600 customers, representing 11,000 products, during the third and fourth quarters of
2010, respectively.
(3) Customer churn is calculated by taking the total disconnects during the month (excluding any data cleanse activity) and dividing them by
the average number of customers during the month. Average monthly churn during a quarter is the average of the three monthly churn
calculations within the quarter.
(4) The monthly cable average revenue per user, or cable ARPU, is calculated on a quarterly basis by dividing total revenue generated from
the provision of telephone, television and internet services to customers who are directly connected to our network in that period together
with revenue generated from our customers using our virginmedia.com website, exclusive of VAT, by the average number of customers
directly connected to our network in that period divided by three.
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