Virgin Media has reported an increase in cable customers of 102,000 in 2020, a significant increase on 2019, when 7,100 customers were added. The numbers are the best recorded since 2017.
The Liberty Global cablenet benefitted from the demand for increased connectivity during the pandemic with another 148,000 broadband subscribers added over the year, a 200% increase on 2019. This included 55,000 broadband additions in the final quarter alone.
Net earnings in 2020 were £39 million compared to a net loss of £337 million in 2019.
“As customers use our services more than ever before, our connectivity leadership has never been clearer,” said Lutz Schüler, CEO, Virgin Media “Through more than a billion pounds of investment in our network, we’ve brought better connectivity to new areas of the country, and established Virgin Media as the UK’s largest gigabit broadband provider.”
The demand for connectivity is demonstrated by a 23% increase in downstream data; and 64% in upstream traffic. 97% of UK broadband customers now take speeds of 100Mbps or more.
An additional 426,000 premises were added to Project Lightning in 2020, bringing the expansion programme to 2.5 million additional homes.