Virgin Media O2 launches in the UK

Virgin Media O2 has launched with a promise to “power the nation’s recovery” and create unbeatable choice for UK consumers and businesses.

The new joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica represents the biggest UK merger in a decade and the largest UK telecoms deal ever, at a time when connectivity has never been more critical.

And new CEO of Virgin Media O2 Lutz Schüler has outlined a vision to ‘upgrade the UK’ through investment in fibre and 5G infrastructure, innovation, and a seamless mix of the best products and services in the market.

The new business becomes one of the UK’s largest, with 47 million connections across broadband, mobile, TV and home phone, and offers connectivity services, applications and digital solutions to tens of thousands of UK businesses and public sector organisations.

Lutz Schüler, CEO of Virgin Media O2, said: “With the fastest broadband and most reliable mobile network in the UK today, Virgin Media O2 is the complete package.

“We are ready to shake up the market and be the competitor the country needs at a time when choice has never been more important.

“Through investment and innovation in cutting-edge infrastructure and future technology, we will connect more people to the things they love, support communities across the country, help businesses to grow, and power the UK economy.

“With no limit to our ambition, we’re here to upgrade the UK.”

As connectivity powers the nation through the pandemic and into the future, Virgin Media O2 will bring together next-generation gigabit broadband and 5G services while expanding its network reach across the country.

The company has committed to invest at least £10 billion over the next five years in the UK. This investment will see the business contribute even more to the Government’s connectivity targets – upgrading infrastructure in more parts of the country and bringing greater choice and competition to many areas that need it most.

By the end of this year, the new joint business will have created almost 2000 new UK roles and the company will also create 1000 apprenticeships.

Virgin Media O2 is already the nation’s largest gigabit broadband operator and will deliver these speeds across its entire network by the end of 2021.

Building on the success of its existing fibre network expansion activity, the business is planning to deploy fibre to millions of additional homes across the country.

Coupled with this, the company will continue to cement its leadership status in reliability and quality mobile coverage by utilising its increased spectrum holding and bringing 5G services to new areas across the nation – including around 200 towns and cities by the end of June.

Virgin Media O2 says will “bring real choice and convenience” to the people and businesses of Britain and will become the nation’s first fully converged competitor at scale delivering even greater value, quality, and innovation.

While there is no change to existing services today, plans are underway to offer seamless broadband, entertainment and mobile services all in one place, under one roof, later this year. The new business will also put customer service at the heart of its offering with increased investment in digital tools and more customer care roles in the UK.

Through a dedicated function, business and public sector customers are set to benefit from a richer suite of products and collective expertise from Virgin Media O2 Business. This includes a variety of managed connectivity services and flexible working capabilities, security, data insight, 5G private networks and cloud solutions, as well as wholesale services to other operators and partners. This comes as many organisations undergo a permanent shift to hybrid working models.

Virgin Media O2 is committed to using the power of connectivity to supercharge communities across the UK, taking action to close the digital divide and helping to build an inclusive, resilient and low carbon economy.

As part of this commitment, the business has confirmed its ambition to achieve net zero carbon operations (scopes 1 & 2) by the end of 2025.