Virgin Media to sell off non-cable broadband business

Virgin Media to sell off non-cable broadband business

Virgin Media could be set to sell off its non-cable broadband business in the UK and focus its strategy solely on providing high-speed internet.

The entity, named Virgin Media National, has over 130,000 customers in the UK.

The subscribers have access to broadband packages offering internet services with speeds of 50Mbps or less, and Virgin Media is reportedly seeking out prospective buyers.

Those interested could include BT and BSkyB, with the investment likely to significantly boost customer numbers in the battle to offer internet services in the UK.

BSkyB added 400,000 customers to its portfolio last year after acquiring O2’s broadband subsidiary from Telefónica.

Telecoms companies could also emerge as prospective buyers in the bid to boost subscriber numbers.

Virgin Media does not have content rights so it does not directly compete with BT and BSkyB, and the company is predominately focussed on delivering high-speed video-on-demand and higher broadband speeds.

It presently offers fibre-optic services to over 12.5 million homes in the UK and its legacy broadband network was set up to offer to offer homes with phone and broadband services to areas where there was not a cable network.

The Virgin Media group was acquired by cable giant Liberty Global last year.


Gift this article