Virgin Media O2 has continued to fight against subscriber erosion as its cable business lost 13,600 customers in Q2.
The moderate losses on the existing footprint offset the growth in its nexfibre business, which is leading the expansion into new areas. Broadband connections fell by 12,200 in Q2, but the average broadband speed for Virgin Media customers was 380 Mbps, an increase of 14.5%.
There was compensation from an increase in revenues of £1.45 a month in ARPU to £48.49 following recent price increases.
Revenues were down 1.4% at £2.7 billion with the operator back in profit at £11.5 million.
Virgin Media O2 mobile contract base stands at 15.9m with a reduction of 118,400 connections in Q2 due to lower activity at the premium end of the market as the new iPhone 15 failed to impress. The new Apple device has relatively new features compared to its predecessors and operators will be hoping the AI features of the iPhone 16 will encourage new purchases and contracts.
Lutz Schüler, CEO of Virgin Media O2, said: “Despite a tough trading environment, we remained focused on delivering more for our customers, continuing to invest significantly in our networks and services, to the level of more than £1 billion so far this year, and successfully executing price changes.”
Virgin Media’s fibre footprint now reaches 5 million premises while 5G mobile connectivity now covers almost two-thirds of the UK population.
