Virgin Media pass 18.3 million homes with gigabit broadband

According to their latest FY/Q4 2024 results, Virgin Media has now passed nearly 18.3 million premises, including 2 million from Nexfibre.

18,255,600 homes are now serviceable, with 6.4 million of those served by full fibre to the home connections.

The provider also reaffirms plans to open up their network on a wholesale basis in 2025.

Credit: Sharaf Maksumov/Shutterstock.com

Network growth

Virgin Media have reported 'record footprint expansion' in 2024, adding an additional 1.3 million serviceable homes to its network in 2024.

The provider now passes 18,255,600 homes with its gigabit-capable broadband, with 6.4 million of these also able to connect with full fibre to the home.

2 million homes on Virgin Media's footprint are passed by the Nexfibre network, a joint venture between the parent companies of Virgin Media and O2 that aims to connect a total of 7 million additional homes to Virgin Media's network with an investment of £4.5 billion.

Nexfibre connections exclusively use the latest full fibre XGS-PON technology, which is capable of delivering 10Gbps symmetrical speeds, something they say, makes them "the only fibre provider of significant scale that exclusively uses 10gbps XGS-PON".

Rajiv Datta, Chief Executive Officer of nexfibre, said: "Reaching two million premises is testament to the dedication of our team and the support of our partners and investors. It reflects our commitment to building a network that prioritises underserved communities and creates a real and lasting impact - most of all by driving economic growth and improving living standards across the UK."

In terms of customer acquisition, Virgin Media has also reported growth in both fixed line customer numbers and revenue for 2024.

Virgin Media added 9,300 fixed line customers between 2023 and 2024, leaving them with a total of 5,836,100 customers, of which 5,738,900 broadband connections.

While the average revenue per user (ARPU) per month also increased from £46.81 in 2023 to £47.74 in Q4 2024.

Virgin Media NetCo

In the FY2024 report, Lutz Schüler, CEO of Virgin Media O2, reaffirmed the provider's goal to create a fixed NetCo to offer the Virgin Media and Nexfibre combined network on a wholesale basis.

The plan was first announced in February 2024 with Virgin Media O2's aim to "reinforce our position as the leading challenger to Openreach".

This will be the first time the Virgin Media network, of now 18.3 million premises, or over 60% of UK homes, will be made available on a wholesale basis to other broadband retailers.

It could see providers like Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone sign up to resell access to their gigabit broadband, with speeds now available in full fibre areas of up to 2Gbps symmetrical.

While TalkTalk and Vodafone already resell broadband across both Openreach and CityFibre networks, Sky currently only uses Openreach although they already have firm plans to launch with CityFibre in 2025.

Lutz Schüler, CEO of Virgin Media O2, said, "We said 2024 was a year of investing to support our long-term growth and these results reflect that. We close the first chapter of Virgin Media O2 having delivered our full year guidance and hitting our JV synergy targets 18 months ahead of schedule, meaning we are well set for the future.

"We ended the year with another quarter of fixed customer and ARPU growth, positive mobile contract additions and improved customer satisfaction through a relentless focus on customer experience.

"Our investments of more than £2 billion across the year helped us to significantly boost our 5G coverage, improve mobile network quality and enhance rural connectivity. We also expanded our fibre footprint faster than ever as we build on our existing gigabit leadership and push ahead with creating the biggest fibre challenger in the UK along with nexfibre.

"In 2024 we laid the foundations for future success, and in 2025 we will get back to growth in core revenues and profitability while continuing investment in our networks and services. Throughout the year we'll also deliver on key strategic moves, including the creation of a fixed NetCo and the expected acquisition of spectrum from Vodafone-Three which will further improve mobile performance. This is the start of a new chapter for Virgin Media O2.".