Virgin Media 2010 Annual Report Download - page 73

(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) 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.
(3) 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.
Summary Mobile Statistics
Selected statistics for our mobile customers, for the three months ended December 31, 2009 as well as for
the four prior quarters, are set forth in the table below. Between December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008, the
number of mobile customers decreased by a net 168,700 customers. Contract customer net gains of 300,300 were
offset by net losses of 469,000 prepay customers. The growth in contract customers reflects the drive for
“quad-play” packages through cross-selling with our cable products. The decline in prepay customers reflects
increased competition in the prepay market and our strategy not to focus heavily on retaining market share in the
prepay market due to higher churn, low tariffs and lower overall lifetime value.
During the three months ended June 30, 2009, we changed the definition of an active prepay mobile
customer from one who had an outbound call or text in the preceding 90 days to one who had an outbound call or
text in the preceding 30 days. Accordingly, opening prepay mobile customers, net prepay mobile customer
disconnections, closing prepay mobile customers, total closing mobile customers, mobile average revenue per
user and average mobile customers have been restated in all of the three month periods set forth in the table
below:
Three months ended
December 31,
2009
September 30,
2009
June 30,
2009
March 31,
2009
December 31,
2008
Contract mobile customers(1):
Opening contract mobile customers ...... 872,600 784,600 712,300 649,400 578,600
Net contract mobile customer additions . . . 77,100 88,000 72,300 62,900 70,800
Closing contract mobile customers ...... 949,700 872,600 784,600 712,300 649,400
Prepay mobile customers(1):
Opening prepay mobile customers ....... 2,323,300 2,449,500 2,556,000 2,694,000 2,854,200
Net prepay mobile customer
disconnections(2) ................... (98,300) (126,200) (106,500) (138,000) (160,200)
Closing prepay mobile customers ....... 2,225,000 2,323,300 2,449,500 2,556,000 2,694,000
Total closing mobile customers:(1) ....... 3,174,700 3,195,900 3,234,100 3,268,300 3,343,400
Mobile average revenue per user(2) ....... £ 14.00 £ 13.41 £ 12.43 £ 13.14 £ 13.35
Mobile ARPU calculation:
Mobile service revenue (millions) ....... £ 132.9 £ 129.3 £ 121.2 £ 129.4 £ 134.6
Average mobile customers ............. 3,164,400 3,213,600 3,251,400 3,283,000 3,360,400
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