News 2006
Virgin Mobile and Virgin.net offer free broadband
18/08/2006
- New offer: Virgin Mobile Pay Monthly SIM-only tariffs come with the option of a year’s free broadband from Virgin.net, normally £17.99 per month
Virgin Mobile and broadband provider Virgin.net have joined forces to offer a year’s free up to 8 Mbps broadband to customers that take one of Virgin Mobile’s new SIM-only pay monthly tariffs.
Anyone joining Virgin Mobile’s £15 (normally £20) or £30 (normally £32) a month SIM-only service will be able to save up to £275* by registering for 12 month’s free broadband through Virgin.net. The free broadband service will offer customers up to 8 Mbps download speeds, a 6 Gigabyte monthly download allowance (which is more than enough for most households) and everything that’s needed to get online, including free set-up and a free broadband modem. Customers have three months to redeem the Virgin.net free broadband offer once they have joined Virgin Mobile.
Virgin.net’s free broadband offer is available to all new Virgin Mobile £15 & £30 SIM-only customers but only until the 31st October 2006 via Virgin Mobile Stores and those within Virgin Megastores or online at www.virginmobile.com/freebroadband. Once the SIM is active (usually within 24 hours), customers can join Virgin.net’s free broadband service at www.virgin.net/freebroadband or by calling 0845 045 1307.
Virgin Mobile’s SIM-only service doesn’t require customers to commit to a long term contract so, as long as a customer stays on the Virgin Mobile SIM-only tariff, the free broadband just keeps coming until the 12 months are up. If a customer chooses to leave Virgin Mobile, they can decide whether or not to start paying for their broadband service from Virgin.net
Virgin.net Sales and Marketing Director, Cristel Lee Leed said: “We love this offer. It’s really easy to understand – get a Virgin Mobile SIM card and then get free broadband from Virgin.net. We’re confident that customers will be delighted with our broadband service – even independent comparison website Uswitch gave us an 87% customer satisfaction rating.”
Graeme Hutchinson, trading director at Virgin Mobile said: “This offer represents fantastic value for those customers who want free broadband for a year at home and have someone in their household who wants a great value mobile package and has a handset they are happy with. We will keep our promise and deliver what our competition has failed to do.”
* 300 minutes and 300 texts (normally £20/month) but on offer for £15/month plus Virgin.Net broadband (normally £17.99/month) – offer price £15/month (combined saving of £22.99/month). Saving is 12x5 + 12x17.99 = £275.88.
For further information:
Virgin.net Press Office
Pete Marcus
Tel: 020 7907 7803
pmarcus@mantra-pr.com
Louise Mackintosh
Tel: 020 7907 7807
lmackintosh@mantra-pr.com
Virgin Mobile Press Office:
0845 600 6272 or press.office@virginmobile.com
Jo Baker: 07941 233300 or jo.baker@virginmobile.com
About Virgin.net:
Virgin.net was the first consumer ISP to launch in the UK in Nov 1996. Virgin.net has gone on to acquire over 600,000 ISP customers to become (available at www.virgin.net) the UK’s 5th largest consumer ISP and is one of the only UK ISPs to offer a range of Internet access options without a 12 month contract:
| Broadband product name | Price per month | 12 month contract | Speed | Monthly download allowance |
| Broadband Plan One | £24.99 | No | Up to 8 Mbps | Unlimited (Acceptable Use Policy applies) |
| Broadband Plan Two | £17.99 | No | Up to 8 Mbps | 6 GB |
| Broadband Plan Three | £14.99 | No | Up to 1 Mbps | 3 GB |
| 24seven | £12.49 | No | Narrowband 56k | Unlimited |
| Pay As You Go: | From 1p per minute | No | Narrowband 56k | Unlimited |
Virgin.net Broadband customers can also take advantage of the new home telephone service called LoudMouth, which enables users to make as many local and national landline to landline calls in UK for just £6.99 a month.
Virgin.net won “Top Marks” in the 2005 October Forrester Independent Survey for Broadband Reliability and Customer Satisfaction, “UK’s Most Popular Portal” at this year’s Metrix Lab Awards.
Virgin.net is wholly owned by ntl Incorporated (NASDAQ: NTLI) which offers a wide range of communications and entertainment services to customers throughout the UK.
About Virgin Mobile:
Virgin Mobile is the UK’s largest mobile virtual network operator and uses T-Mobile's network. Since its launch in November 1999, Virgin Mobile has attracted more than 4 million customers.
Virgin Mobile is part of the ntl:telewest group. The Group is the first to be able to offer `quadruple play’ to customers: mobile and fixed line telephony, broadband internet and television.
In the UK, Virgin Mobile phones are available direct on 0845 6000 600; on the web at www.virginmobile.com or on the high street at approximately 5,000 outlets including Virgin Mobile Stores and those within Virgin Megastores and selected WHSmiths, The Carphone Warehouse, The Link, Phones 4 U, Currys.digital, Comet, Tesco, Asda, John Lewis, Argos, Woolworths, Toys R Us, Ryman, web retailer Dial-a-phone plus hundreds of independent mobile phone dealers and available via Shop Direct/Littlewoods, Grattan and Empire home shopping channels.
Virgin Mobile Pay Monthly (contract) is currently available in Virgin Mobile Stores, The Carphone Warehouse, The Link, Phones 4u, at concessions in WHSmith and from www.virginmobile.com
Virgin Mobile employs approximately 1,700 staff at three sites, Trowbridge, London and Daventry, and has an outsourced customer service centre operated by approximately 200 staff in Middlesbrough.
Virgin Mobile was voted 22nd Best Workplaces in the UK in the Financial Times survey for 2006.
