Virgin Media 2012 Annual Report Download - page 19

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OTHER MATTERS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The operation, development and support of our information technology systems are performed by a mix of outsourced
and internally managed services. These systems include billing, customer management, enterprise resource planning,
business intelligence, corporate network, payroll, data center and desktop infrastructure. We are continuing to
decommission or consolidate a number of diverse software applications and hardware platforms in order to reduce
our dependency on high cost external support and management services and improve the stability of these systems.
In 2011 we announced the outsourcing of our mobile application development and applications support function as
well as development testing functions to a key strategic partner to improve service levels and lower the total cost of
these services.
SEASONALITY
Some revenue streams are subject to seasonal factors. For example, fixed line telephone usage revenue by customers
and businesses tends to be slightly lower during summer holiday months, and mobile average revenue per unit, or
ARPU, generally decreases in the first quarter of each year due to the fewer number of days in February and customers
changing their spending patterns following the Christmas period. Our consumer cable churn rates include persons
who disconnect their service because of moves, resulting in a seasonal increase in our churn rates during the summer
months when higher levels of U.K. house moves have traditionally occurred and when students leave their
accommodation between academic years.
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY
We have a long-term commitment to growing a responsible and sustainable business. Accountability for delivering our
sustainability strategy sits with our Corporate Responsibility, or CR, Committee. Chaired by our Chief Executive Officer,
it is comprised of members of our senior management, who represent our core business functions. Supported by our
dedicated Sustainability team, the CR Committee meets quarterly to review our progress.
Following a formal stakeholder engagement program that included key opinion leaders, staff and customers, in 2012
we increased our strategic focus on the positive impact of digital technology on everyday life and in communities and
society at large. Alongside our longstanding program, Virgin Media Pioneers, which uses digital technology to support
the next generation of entrepreneurs, we launched a new program called 'Our digital future'. Taking a broad and open
view from a wide spectrum of audiences, 'Our digital future' will help us understand the wants and concerns of every
internet user in the U.K. and support us in developing the services of the future that ensure everyone benefits from
what digital technology has to offer.
In 2012, we prioritized three areas of focus to improve sustainability across the Virgin Media business: our products,
our operations and our people. Targets for improved performance were set across each of these areas, in addition to
our long-term target of reducing our 2007 carbon footprint by 15% by 2015.
We will continue to share updates on our performance and key highlights on our progress through our award winning
sustainability website: http://www.virginmedia.com/sustainability.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Our research and development activities involve the analysis of technological developments affecting our cable
television, telephone (including mobile) and telecommunications businesses, the evaluation of existing services and
sales and marketing techniques and the development of new services and techniques.
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