Virgin Media Incorporated
Type	Public: (NASDAQ: VMED)
Founded	NTL: 1992; Telewest: 1984
Headquarters	Corporate: New York City, United States Operational: Hook, England, UK
Key people	James Mooney (Chairman) Neil Berkett (Acting CEO & COO) Jacques Kerrest (CFO) Richard Branson (Figurehead)
Industry	Cable Communications
Products	Cable television Broadband Telephone Mobile phone
Revenue	$16. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc The NASDAQ (acronym of National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American Stock exchange. The City of New York The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Hook is a large village within the Hart district of northern Hampshire, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator A chief operating officer or chief operations officer ( COO) is a Corporate officer responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of the Corporation Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 is an English Business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies In politics a figurehead, by Metaphor with the carved figurehead at the prow of a sailing ship is a person who holds an important title or office yet executes little For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need The term broadband can have different meanings in different contexts Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services 5 billion (2008)
Employees	22,500 (2005)
Website	virginmedia.com

Virgin Media Inc. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages (formerly known as ntl:Telewest, after a merger of NTL Incorporated with Telewest Global, Inc. ), became in 2006 the first "quadruple-play" media company in the United Kingdom, bringing together a so-called "quad play" service consisting of television, Internet, mobile phone and fixed-line telephone services. Technological convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar Tasks Convergence can refer to previously The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic The term broadband can have different meanings in different contexts Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information Virgin Media represents a prime example of telecommunication convergence. Telecommunications convergence is a concept dating back to AT&T in 1928 but has evolved in the 21st century to dominate the Market positioning of telecoms operators As the only major cable company in the United Kingdom, it competes in the UK digital television market with one other major pay-TV operator, satellite-based BSkyB, and with Freeview, a free-to-air terrestrial service. British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the Free-to-air (FTA Television (TV and Radio broadcasts are sent unencrypted and may be received via any suitable receiver Free-to-view While a US-headquartered organisation, Virgin Media only operates in the United Kingdom, with operational headquarters in Hook, North Hampshire. Hook is a large village within the Hart district of northern Hampshire, England. On July 1, 2007 it emerged that the private equity investment firm The Carlyle Group had initiated discussions to acquire Virgin Media Inc. "July 1st" redirects here For the Ayumi Hamasaki song see H (song. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In Finance, private equity is an Asset class consisting of equity Securities in operating companies that are not Publicly traded on The Carlyle Group is a global Private equity investment firm based in Washington D ^[1][2] but recent movements in the global credit-market have put potential acquisition opportunties on hold. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Telewest (1984-2006) 1.2 NTL (1993-2006) 1.2.1 NTL Internet 1.2.2 ntl:freedom 1.2.3 Virgin.net 1.3 NTL:Telewest (March 2006 - February 2007) 1.3.1 The merger of Virgin Mobile and NTL:Telewest 1.3.2 Rumoured private equity bid (2006) 1.3.3 ITV merger proposal (2006) 2 The Virgin Media era 2.1 Virgin Media vs. BSkyB 3 Key dates and events 3.1 Market share 3.1.1 Broadband 3.1.2 Television 4 Services 4.1 Virgin Broadband 4.1.1 Bandwidth throttling 4.1.2 Proxy servers 4.1.3 Crackdown on illegal downloads 4.2 Virgin TV 4.2.1 Non-digital areas 4.2.2 Non-cabled areas 4.2.3 PVR and high-definition services 4.2.4 Video on demand 4.3 Virgin Media Television (formerly Flextech) 4.4 Virgin Mobile 4.5 Virgin Phone 5 Corporate affairs 5.1 Business-divisions 5.2 Advertising 5.3 Redundancies 6 Controversy 6.1 Leaked Memo Debacle 6.2 Net Neutrality 6.3 Data pimping 7 Notes 8 External links

History

Telewest (1984-2006)

Main article: Telewest (former)

Telewest originated in Croydon in 1984 under the name "Croydon Cable". Telewest, formerly Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications was a Cable Internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier Croydon is a large town and major commercial centre in South London, and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Croydon. In 1988 United Cable of Denver, US, acquired Croydon Cable. Franchises extended the company scope in Edinburgh and the south-west and south-east of England. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland In 1989 United Cable merged with United Artists Cable International. In 1991 United Artists merged with their largest shareholder TCI (now Liberty Media), to form the largest cable operator in the US. Tele-Communications Inc or TCI was a Cable television provider in the United States, for much of its history controlled by John Malone. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The Liberty Media Corporation is an American Media conglomerate and the control is exercised by engineer Dr TCI and US West announced a joint venture, and in 1992 the joint venture company became Telewest Communications. U S WEST Inc was a Regional Bell Operating Company, one of seven "Baby Bells" that were spawned by the Antitrust breakup of AT&T in 1983 In 1995 Telewest merged with SBC Communications, adding franchises in the Midlands and North West serving 1. 3 million homes.

In 1998 Telewest announced a merger with General Cable, and acquired an outstanding interest in Birmingham Cable, adding a further 1. 7 million franchise homes in Yorkshire, west London and Birmingham. Telewest purchased the remaining 50% stake in Cable London from NTL in 1999, adding 0. Brief history Cable London plc was the operating name and brand of a Cable telecommunications company that operated in five 4 million franchise homes in north London. In April 2000 Telewest merged with Flextech, and in November extended its cable network with the acquisition of Eurobell, taking the total number of homes passed to 4. Virgin Media Television (formerly two companies Flextech Television and NTL) is the content subsidiary of Virgin Media Eurobell was a cable telephony company operating in south-east and south-west England from 1990 until 2000 when it was bought out by Telewest from the previous owners 9 million. The company later became known as "Telewest Broadband" in a re-brand during 2001. ^[3]

In subsequent years Telewest experienced many financial problems due to the huge debts it incurred as a result of constructing its cable network and of acquiring other cable companies and assets. In 2004 Telewest re-structured itself by swapping its unsecured debt for 98. In Finance, unsecured debt refers to any type of Debt or general obligation that is not collateralized by a Lien on specific assets of 5% of its shares. The London FTSE then de-listed the consolidated shares. The London Stock Exchange or LSE is a Stock exchange located in London, England. Major Telewest shareholders included Huff and Liberty Media (run by cable tycoon John Malone). The Liberty Media Corporation is an American Media conglomerate and the control is exercised by engineer Dr John C Malone (born March 7 1941 in Milford, Connecticut) is the current chairman of Liberty Media and CEO of Afterwards the company emerged from financial restructuring and completed a merger with NTL in 2006.

Telewest also provided the broadband service 'Blueyonder', using the same cable system as its television service.

NTL (1993-2006)

Barclay Knapp and George Blumenthal, the founders of the cellular network company Cellular Communications, Inc. Barclay Knapp is a Senior Fellow in the Center for Financial Economics at The Johns Hopkins University, and has formed Charles Street Partners to pursue financing and management George Blumenthal born 1945 is an American Professor and astronomer and as of September 19 2007 Chancellor of the University of California (sold to Airtouch in 1996), established International CableTel in 1993. AirTouch Communications was a US-based Wireless service provider that was created when PacTel Cellular was spun off from Pacific Telesis They founded CableTel in order to take advantage of the deregulation of the UK cable market. Deregulation, a term which gained widespread currency in the period 1970-2000 can be seen as a process by which governments remove reduce or simplify Restrictions on Business Initially, Cabletel acquired local cable-franchises covering Guildford, Northern Ireland and parts of Central Scotland and South Wales. Guildford ( IPA /ˈgɪlfəd/ is the County town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of South Wales (De Cymru is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south and Mid Wales and West Wales In 1996 CableTel acquired National Transcommunications Limited (NTL), the privatised UK Independent Broadcasting Authority transmission-network. Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of business from the Public sector (government to the Private sector (business The Independent Broadcasting Authority ( IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial Television ( ITV and In 1998 CableTel adopted "NTL" as its new name.

The company spent heavily on expanding its network and on acquisitions — including the consumer cable division of Cable and Wireless, bought for $10bn, and partly paid for with a $5. Cable & Wireless ( is a British Telecommunications company In the mid-1980s it became the first company in the UK to offer an alternative Telephone 5bn investment from France Telecom. France Télécom () is the main Telecommunication company in France and one of the largest in the world NTL also began to expand outside the UK in 2000, buying into markets on continental Europe and in Ireland. Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe.

A collapse of the telecommunications markets from mid-2000 dealt a serious blow to the company. This, combined with NTL's rapid acquisition of local cable-operators, led to severe problems of integration. NTL, struggling to cope with rapid expansion and suffering from significant customer-service problems, then had to contend with the setting up in November 2002 of one of the UK's first consumer lobby-groups, nthellworld, with ntl:hell following shortly after. Customer service (also known as Client Service) is the provision of service to customers before during and after a purchase An interest group (also advocacy group, lobby group, pressure group or special interest group) is an organized collection of people who seek nthellworld was one of the first mainstream independent consumer lobby groups in the United Kingdom, whose main focal point was British ISP and CableHell is an independent consumer lobby group designed by customers of Virgin Media (previously known as NTL / Telewest for Cable TV services

Devalued and struggling with debts of around $18bn, NTL had to seek Chapter-11 bankruptcy-protection in May 2002 in order to organise a refinancing deal. Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a Currency with respect to other monetary units Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the Bankruptcy laws of the United States The company did not emerge from protection until January 2003, having converted around $11 billion of debt into shares. Technically, this amounted to the largest debt default in US corporate history. In Finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met its legal obligations according to the debt contract e The company reduced its debt to $6. 4bn. A re-organisation split NTL itself into NTL Inc. (covering the UK and Irish markets) and NTL Europe Inc. (for the French, Swiss and German parts of the corporation). This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. New executives replaced the NTL president, CEO and co-founder Barclay Knapp, as well as Stephen A. Carter, the MD and COO. Stephen Carter CBE (born 12 February 1964) is a former businessman and political advisor and currently Minister for Communications Technology and Managing director is the term used for the Chief executive of many limited companies in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and some other English A chief operating officer or chief operations officer ( COO) is a Corporate officer responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of the Corporation

After exiting from Chapter-11 protection, NTL produced an operating profit. In 2004 it announced plans to split its broadcasting division off from the main company. In December 2004 NTL sold its broadcast-unit to a consortium led by Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group (MCG) for £1. ---- Macquarie Group Limited (formerly Macquarie Bank Limited is a global Investment banking and diversified Financial services group providing banking financial 27 billion. (Macquarie renamed the division Arqiva in May 2005. Arqiva is one of the two main transmitter and broadcast companies in the United Kingdom. ) This sale allowed NTL to focus on its "core businesses" of providing communications packages and cable-services.

In autumn 2004 NTL purchased the remaining shares of the Internet service provider (ISP) virgin.net, originally a joint venture between NTL and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group. An Internet service provider ( ISP, also called Internet access provider or IAP) is a company which primarily offers their customers access to the Internet Virgin Media Inc (formerly known as ntlTelewest, after a merger of NTL Incorporated with Telewest Global Inc Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 is an English Business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies Virgin Group Ltd is a branded Venture capital conglomerate of separately run companies that each use the Virgin brand of British business tycoon ^[4]

By 2005 NTL's UK network consisted of a 7,800 km fibre backbone with the potential to reach 8. An optical fiber (or fibre) is a Glass or Plastic fiber that carries Light along its length A backbone network or network backbone is a part of Computer network infrastructure that interconnects various pieces of network providing a path for the exchange 4 million residential homes and around 610,000 businesses. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to In January of that year, NTL started rolling out Video On Demand. Video on demand ( VOD) or Audio video on demand ( AVOD) systems allow users to select and watch/listen With content selected by NTL, this service covered genres including music videos, children's programming and adult entertainment. Sex industry is the internationalisation of commercial enterprises which supply Sex workers in various capacities This provided an extension to the basic "pay per view" services the company offered for film and sport content. The new service allowed customers to rewind, fast-forward and pause content.

Despite NTL Ireland turning a profit, in May 2005, NTL sold its Dublin, Galway and Waterford cable-business — which it had acquired in 1999 for €825 million from the Irish government-owned entities Telecom Éireann (60% of shares) and RTE (40% of shares) — to UGC Europe for €325 million; this after having spent in excess of €100 million on network infrastructure. NTL Communications (Ireland Limited is a Cable television and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS company in the Republic of Ireland. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. Galway (Gaillimh is the only city in the province of Connacht in Ireland. Waterford ( or Windy fjord;) is a city in Ireland. It is the primary city of the South East region and the fifth largest in the country Telecom Éireann, or formally Bord Telecom Éireann - The Irish Telecommunications Board, was created by the Postal & Telecommunications Services Act 1983 from the Thus NTL made a gross loss of €500 million (more than 50%) over what it had paid. As of May 2007 Liberty continues to use the NTL brand in Ireland, under license.

By July 2005, NTL had cut its debt to £1. 445 billion, with an operating cashflow of £178 million. The company had 3. 2 million customers buying at least one service from it, with the 1. 4 million subscribers to broadband services making NTL the market leader in this field. Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just Broadband, is high-speed Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access over a Modem Market dominance is a measure of the strength of a Brand, product, service, or firm, relative to competitive offerings

NTL Internet

After trials in the Guildford area from summer 1999, NTL launched its original broadband services at the same time that NTL acquired the Cable business of Cable and Wireless (spring 2000). Cable & Wireless ( is a British Telecommunications company In the mid-1980s it became the first company in the UK to offer an alternative Telephone In the "original NTL" (also known as "Langley") areas, NTL has always supplied broadband services via DOCSIS cable-modems. Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification ( DOCSIS) is an international standard developed by CableLabs and contributing companies that include ARRIS In these areas the digital television set-top boxes (STBs) used an incompatible standard, DAVIC. A set-top box (STB or set-top unit (STU is a device that connects to a Television and an external source of signal, turning the signal into DAVIC, Digital Audio Video Council was founded in 1994 with the aim of promoting the success of interactive digital audio-visual applications and services by promulgating specifications

The roll-out of broadband services in the ex-Cable and Wireless franchises started in mid-2001. Initially, NTL provided ex-Cable and Wireless subscribers with broadband through the set-top box also used for digital television services, adopting the rationale that subscribers could self-install. Digital television (DTV is the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by discrete ( digital) signals in contrast to the analog signals used by Accordingly, NTL supplied a "Self Install Kit" consisting of connecting cable, adapters and an install-CD. Following demonstrated problems, NTL gradually introduced cable-modems and phased out the self-install approach to set-top box broadband .

Although the set-top boxes had the capability of supporting of higher speeds (up to 4 Mbit/s), NTL did not make speeds higher than 1 Mbit/s available via set-top boxes, due to degradation of the digital television (DTV) service.

NTL eventually replaced the Pace set-top boxes with Samsung models which used a dual-processor architecture, overcoming the shortcomings of the Pace, and which could give much better downstream performance. The Samsung Group ( Korean:, Samsung Guerup) is South Korea 's largest company or Chaebol and the world's largest conglomerate The Samsung set-top box had its own limitations, with initially only a 10 Mbit/s single duplex connection on the customer side of the device. However, with the advent of higher "Tiers of Service" of 10, then 20 Mbit/s downstream, plus the reducing cost of NTL's cable modems,^[5] NTL came to supply all subscribers with cable modems.

A historical view of NTL cable modems appears at the Chetnet site. ^[6]

ntl:freedom

ntl:freedom, an ADSL-based alternative for customers not living in a cabled area, has become "Virgin Media Freedom".

Virgin. net

Virgin. net operated as an Internet service provider (ISP) in the UK from November 1996 onwards. An Internet service provider ( ISP, also called Internet access provider or IAP) is a company which primarily offers their customers access to the Internet The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Once a joint venture between NTL and the Virgin Group, the ISP became wholly owned by NTL in 2004. A joint venture (often abbreviated JV) is an entity formed between two or more parties to undertake economic activity together Virgin Group Ltd is a branded Venture capital conglomerate of separately run companies that each use the Virgin brand of British business tycoon ^[4] It sold a range of ADSL broadband packages through BT landlines to those living outside areas served by NTL's cable-television network. Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ( ADSL) is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over Copper Telephone BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (ˌbiːˈtiː bee tee) (previously known as British Telecom and still A landline, main line or fixed-line is a Telephone line which travels through a solid medium either metal Wire or Optical fibre Virgin. net broadband customers could receive up to 8 Mbit/s downstream and 400 kbit/s upstream, with usage-allowances depending on which package the user took. Virgin. net also offered bundled phone-services via Carrier Preselect (CPS) to broadband subscribers. Carrier Preselect is a term relating to the Telecommunications industry The service offered various usage-allowances depending on which package a user took. Virgin. net also offered subscription-based and subscription-free dial-up Internet access. Dial-up Internet Access is a form of Internet access via Telephone lines The user's computer or Router uses an attached Modem connected to a Prior to acquiring Virgin. net, NTL offered a similar package called NTL Freedom.

On February 8, 2007, the services provided by Virgin. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. net became integrated into the new Virgin Media brand.

NTL:Telewest (March 2006 - February 2007)

From late 2003 discussions commenced on a merger between Telewest and NTL. Thanks to their geographically distinct areas, NTL and Telewest had co-operated previously, as in re-directing potential customers living outside their respective areas. On October 3, 2005, NTL announced a USD$6 billion purchase of Telewest, forming one of the largest media companies in the UK. Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been The merger agreement as structured would have left NTL having to negotiate with BBC Worldwide (the BBC's commercial arm) due to a change-of-ownership clause written into the agreement for UKTV, a joint venture with Telewest's Flextech content division. UKTV is a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media Television. Virgin Media Television (formerly two companies Flextech Television and NTL) is the content subsidiary of Virgin Media To prevent this, Telewest instead acquired NTL.

The parties completed the merger on March 3, 2006, making the merged company the UK's largest cable-provider, with more than 90% of the market. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Once merged, the combined company renamed itself to NTL Incorporated, with ex-NTL shareholders controlling 75% of the stock and ex-Telewest shareholders 25%. Nine of the eleven directors of the new board came from NTL and two from Telewest.

The merger of Virgin Mobile and NTL:Telewest

In December 2005 NTL:Telewest and Virgin Mobile announced that talks had taken place regarding a merger. Virgin Mobile is a brand used by many Mobile phone service providers based in the United Kingdom, and operating (Note that Virgin Mobile, as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), does not own or operate a mobile phone network: it simply reached a commercial agreement with the T-Mobile GSM 1800 network to resell airtime branded as "Virgin Mobile". T-Mobile is a Mobile network operator headquartered in Bonn, Germany. The combination proved so successful that T-Mobile quickly added Virgin Mobile's subscriber connections to its own in order to boost network numbers. )

Virgin Mobile's independent directors rejected the original bid of £817 million ($1. 4 billion), taking the view that NTL Incorporated's bid "undervalued the business". Sir Richard Branson reportedly expressed confidence that a re-structured deal could go ahead, and in January 2006 NTL Incorporated increased its offer to £961 m (372p per share). Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 is an English Business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies On 4 April 2006, NTL Incorporated announced a £962. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. 4 m recommended offer for Virgin Mobile. According to reports, Branson accepted a mix of shares and cash, making him a 10. 7% shareholder of the combined company.

The takeover completed on 4 July 2006, setting up the UK's first 'quadruple play' media company, bringing together television, Internet broadband, mobile phone and fixed-line phone services. Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Technological convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar Tasks Convergence can refer to previously The deal included a 30-year exclusive branding agreement that saw NTL adopt the "Virgin" name after it completed its merger with Telewest. As a result, on November 8, 2006 NTL:Telewest announced it would change its name to "Virgin Media Inc". Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Rumoured private equity bid (2006)

On August 16, 2006, The Times reported that the ntl Incorporated group could become the subject of a £10bn takeover bid from a private-equity firm consortium made up of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain, Cinven, Blackstone and Providence Private Equity, with a formal approach expected within a fortnight. Events 1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. In Finance, private equity is an Asset class consisting of equity Securities in operating companies that are not Publicly traded on A consortium is an association of two or more individuals companies organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities with the objective of participating Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (commonly referred to as KKR) is a New York City -based Private equity firm that focuses primarily on late-stage Leveraged Bain Capital LLC is a Boston -based Private equity firm founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company. Cinven is a European Private equity firm founded in 1977 with offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Milan. Among the most prestigious private equity and investment management firms in the world The Blackstone Group' ( is a company that provides Private equity, financial advisory The £10bn figure would include £6bn worth of debt already on the NTL balance-sheet. Additional new banking facilities would probably fund the private-equity bid. No such bid materialised whatsoever.

ITV merger proposal (2006)

On Thursday, November 9, 2006, NTL announced that it had approached commercial television broadcaster ITV about a proposed merger,^[7] after a similar announcement by ITV. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ITV plc ( is a British media company that operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial ^[8] BSkyB effectively blocked the merger on 2006-11-17 when it controversially bought a 17. British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers 9% stake in ITV plc,^[9] a move that attracted anger from NTL shareholder Richard Branson,^[10] and an investigation from media and telecoms regulator Ofcom. Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 is an English Business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies The Office of Communications (Y Swyddfa Gyfathrebiadau or as it is more often known Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the Communication ^[11] On 2006-12-06 NTL announced that it had complained to the Office of Fair Trading about BSkyB's move, and that it would withdraw its attempt to buy ITV plc, stating that it did not believe that it could currently make a deal on favourable terms. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev The Office of Fair Trading ( OFT) is a Non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, ^[12]

The Virgin Media era

NTL Group's services — previously marketed under the NTL, Telewest and Virgin. net brands — merged with Virgin Mobile under the "Virgin Media" brand on February 8, 2007, referred to by Virgin as V Day. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[13]

Virgin Media vs. BSkyB

A channel agreement for Virgin Media to keep non-premium Sky channels ended at midnight on 1 March 2007. British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Virgin Media and Sky failed to reach agreement on the issue, and Sky reacted by posting a letter to the public in major UK newspapers on 28 February 2007. Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Despite Sky's letter, Virgin Media blamed Sky for tyrannizing them and forcing consumers to switch. The companies failed to resolve their differences, and subsequently after midnight on 1 March 2007, Virgin Media replaced the Sky One, Sky Two, Sky Travel, Sky Travel Extra, Sky Sports News and Sky News channel content with a standard message. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. This article discusses the Sky Real Lives channel (formerly "Sky Travel" This article discusses the Sky Real Lives channel (formerly "Sky Travel" Sky Sports News (SSN is a 24-hour sports news channel in the United Kingdom. Sky News is a rolling TV news channel providing 24 hour news coverage including the latest breaking news Sky attributed part of the rate-rise to the fact that the new deal would also include Sky Three, Sky Arts and undisclosed high definition and video on demand content. Sky Arts (Formerly known as Artsworld) is a British television channel offering 18 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts including theatrical performances movies High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition Video on demand ( VOD) or Audio video on demand ( AVOD) systems allow users to select and watch/listen Sky said the deal would cost only 3p per customer per day (roughly £35,000,000 per year), but Virgin said that a minimum payment-guarantee included in the contract meant that the actual amount due would exceed twice the current payment. ^[14] On 9 May 2008 it was reported that the companies had held talks to resolve the dispute. Events 1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common ^[15]

Virgin Central, an on-demand service, has recently gained the rights to begin showing episodes of the television show Lost (already shown on Sky One), and other shows including Alias and The OC. Virgin Central is a Television channel from Virgin Media Television which is based on Video-on-demand. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Lost is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American serial drama television series. Alias is an American " Spy-fi " television series created by J This article is about the FOX television series For the location from which the series derives its name see Orange County California. This service extends the on-demand service previously known as Teleport TV. Teleport TV remains available, offering recently-broadcast shows and other shows and series.

Key dates and events

• 2 March 2007 - The National Consumer Council accused Sky and Virgin of "behaving like children" and stated that at the end of March 2007 it would consider whether or not to raise a super-complaint against them "that will help to knock heads together". Events 986 - Louis V becomes King of the Franks. 1127 - Assassination of Charles the Good Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[16]

• 5 March 2007 - Virgin Media threatened to take legal action against BSkyB if the matter remained unresolved in 30 days. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[17]

• 12 April 2007 - Virgin Media filed a legal case in the High Court against BSkyB under the UK Competition Act 1998 and Article 82 of the EC Treaty. Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. For the Cameroonian court by this name see High Court of Justice (Cameroon, for the Israeli court of this name see Supreme Court of Israel. The Competition Act 1998 is the current major source of competition policy in the UK along with Enterprise Act 2002. BSkyB claimed that Virgin Media made little effort to further arbitration. ^[18]

• 20 July 2007 - an announcement appeared to the effect that Virgin had struck a deal with Setanta Sports to offer six Setanta channels free-of-charge to XL- package customers, including 46 live Premier League football matches, 60 live Scottish Premier League games and US PGA Tour golf. Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Setanta Sports (sɛˈtantə is a sports broadcaster based in Ireland, operating 12 channels in 24 countries The Premier League, colloquially referred to as the Premiership, is an English professional league for football clubs The Scottish Premier League, currently known as the Clydesdale Bank Premier League for sponsorship reasons and often known as the Premier League or SPL The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the main professional Golf tours in the United States. ^[19]

Market share

Broadband

Virgin Broadband currently ranks as the UK's second-largest broadband supplier. PortalCurrent events International holidays January 1 - New Year's Day January 1 - Independence Figures show Virgin to have just over 3. 6 Million customers, which would translate as a 35% market share across the UK; its major competitor, BT Broadband, had a 40% market share. BT Total Broadband is a British Internet Service Provider which is part of BT Group plc. ^[20]

Television

Virgin Television has currently around 3. November 2007 is the eleventh month of that year It began on a Thursday and 30 days later ended on a Friday 4 million subscribers. ^[21]

3. 2 million of them are Digital Cable. The other 200,000 are Analogue Cable.

Virgin makes up around 30% of the UK's TV distributors, with Freeview having the most, and Sky Digital being second.

Services

Virgin Broadband

The broadband division combines NTL's cable-broadband operations (broadband Internet access connections through cable), Blueyonder (Telewest's cable-broadband operations) and Virgin. Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just Broadband, is high-speed Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access over a Modem net (ADSL; broadband internet access through a non-cable telephone line). Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ( ADSL) is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over Copper Telephone The cable service operates through both stand-alone cable modems and television set-top boxes. A cable modem is a type of Modem that provides access to a data signal sent over the Cable television infrastructure A set-top box (STB or set-top unit (STU is a device that connects to a Television and an external source of signal, turning the signal into

Current download speeds offered to cable users include 2 Mbit/s, 4 Mbit/s and 20 Mbit/s, having upload speeds of 256 kbit/s, 384 kbit/s, and 768 kbit/s respectively. In telecommunications Bit rate or Data transfer rate is the average number of Bits characters or blocks per unit time passing between equipment in a data transmission ^[22] Non-cable (ADSL) users have options of up-to 1 Mbit/s and up-to 8 Mbit/s. ^[23] As with all ADSL services, actual speed available varies depending on distance from the telephone exchange.

Virgin Media also offers dial-up Internet services. Dial-up Internet Access is a form of Internet access via Telephone lines The user's computer or Router uses an attached Modem connected to a Virgin Phone subscribers have two options; pay-as-you-go at 3p/minute,^[24] or a fixed monthly fee of £14. 99 for unlimited usage. ^[25] Subscribers with a BT telephone line have only the option of pay-as-you-go, costing from 1p/minute. BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (ˌbiːˈtiː bee tee) (previously known as British Telecom and still ^[23] Those with a virgin media phone package receive a discount on the normal broadband subscription, paying £4. 50 per month. ^[26]

Virgin media recently announced that from February 2008 all customers currently on their 4Mb price plan will automatically be upgraded for free to 10Mb. This process will take place region by region and will take until the end of summer. ^[27]

From March 31 Virgin Media will be giving a free Netgear wireless router to all new cable customers taking size L or XL broadband or existing size M and L cable broadband customers upgrading to size L or XL. Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Netgear, founded in 1996 is a US manufacturer of Computer networking equipment and other Computer hardware. Wi-Fi (ˈwaɪfaɪ is the trade name for the popular wireless technology used A router ('rautər in the USA 'rutər in the UK and Ireland, or either pronunciation in Australia and Canada is a Computer whose software and hardware are usually A non-refundable, one time service charge of £40 will apply to all new cable broadband customers taking the size M broadband service and existing size L and XL customers taking the wireless router without upgrading their broadband service. The Wireless router remains the property of Virgin Media at all times. For a further £20 a USB adapter or a PCMCIA laptop card can be added. In Computing, PC Card (originally '''PCMCIA''', or PCMCIA Card is the Form factor of a peripheral interface designed for Laptop computers All equipment includes a 2 year service warranty dependent on the customer remaining a Virgin Media broadband customer for the duration of that period. ^[28]

Bandwidth throttling

The cable broadband services do not have a specific bandwidth cap; however, on 3 May 2007 Virgin introduced "Subscriber Traffic Management" (STM). Events 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries adopting the baptismal name of João Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In particular, between the hours of 4pm and 9pm the service provider may throttle down bandwidth for customers "downloading an unusually large amount at these times" (in line with one's package: 350 MB for the 2 Mb/sec package, 800 MB for the 4 Mb/sec package and 3 GB for the 10/20 Mb/sec package) such that the speed of one's connection will decrease. Bandwidth throttling is a method of ensuring a bandwidth intensive device such as a server, will limit ("throttle" the quantity of data it transmits and/or According to Virgin Media, this scheme aims to regulate bandwidth-usage and to ensure that all customers get a fair share of the service provided. The scheme has been criticised as being overly punitive. A customer on the 20Mb/sec package may be able to exceed their allocated 3Gb download limit in only 20 minutes. Once the download limit is exceeded, the bandwidth throttle remains in place for 5 hours. The actual speed decrease depends on the package subscribed to, and ranges from 50% to 75%. ^[29]

VirginMedia broadband, based on DOCSIS, runs over coaxial cable television connections in those areas with Cable TV and ADSL lines in areas that do not. Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification ( DOCSIS) is an international standard developed by CableLabs and contributing companies that include ARRIS Coaxial cable is a cable consisting of an inner conductor surrounded by a tubular insulating layer typically made from a flexible material with a high Dielectric constant, all Unlike ADSL connections, DOCSIS-based cable broadband remains largely unaffected by line attenuation, and provides long lease-time dynamic (not static) IP addresses to subscribers (based on the MAC address of the client device). Controversially, VirginMedia have introduced Bandwidth Throttling on DOCSIS-based cable broadband connections in some areas. Previously, these connections were all managed by NTL:telewest prior to the VirginMedia merger and were not subject to bandwidth throttling. This has caused great upset among many old NTL:telewest customers in the regions that it effects.

In its fourth quarter results in 2006, Virgin Media announced plans to launch a 50 Mbit/s service in the summer of 2008.

Virgin Media reportedly started conducting trials of a 100 Mbit/s broadband service on its cable network in April 2006. ^[30][31]

Proxy servers

Virgin Media previously redirected web browser traffic on port 80 through transparent proxy servers with a view to saving on bandwidth costs and improving browsing performance. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In Computer networks a proxy server is a server (a computer system or an application program which services the requests of its clients by forwarding This did not apply to any other form of traffic. Up to 15 proxy server addresses hosted each area^[32] The use of proxy servers (generally, not specific to Virgin Media) also caused problems for websites which use less sophisticated methods to identify IP addresses to ban and/or track users. Some users of Mac OS X had also experienced incompatibilities when using some sites (including myspace.com). Mac OS X (mæk oʊ ɛs tɛn is a line of computer Operating systems developed marketed and sold by Apple Inc, the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently MySpace is a popular social networking Website offering an interactive user-submitted network of friends personal profiles blogs groups photos music and

Virgin Media removed the use of all transparent proxy servers in Spring 2007. ^[33]

Crackdown on illegal downloads

On 2 April 2008 The Daily Telegraph reported that Virgin Media were going to start a trial to take action against subscribers who are illegally downloading copyrighted material from internet Peer-to-peer (p2p) services. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common For "The Daily Telegraph" in Australia see The Daily Telegraph (Australia. Information of offenders would be provided by the British Phonographic Industry. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI is the British record industry's trade association. ^[34][35] Virgin Media and the BPI have since denied reports of any agreement or pilot scheme and say they are only in talks on the matter. ^[36] Although the UK government currently backs plans to ban p2p users from the internet, it may soon be overturned by strong condemnation from the European Parliament on the grounds of privacy issues and the importance of internet access. ^[37]

Virgin TV

See also: List of channels on Virgin TV

Virgin Television, the digital cable television service from Virgin Media, currently ranks as the UK's second largest pay TV service, having 3. This is a list of the current channels available from Virgin Media through their Virgin TV service those coming in the future and those that Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. 2m subscribers, compared to BSkyB's 8. British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the 2m^[38] as of Q3 2007.

Virgin's digital cable television uses Nagravision 1 for encryption. Nagravision is a company of the Kudelski Group that develops Conditional access systems for cable and Satellite television.

Currently 55% of UK households have access to Virgin's network,^[39] while anyone in the UK with a line-of-sight view of the Astra 2 satellites has the ability to receive Sky's service. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In areas it services, Virgin Television ranks as the number one provider of pay TV. Virgin plans to expand availability in the rest of the UK using DSL technology. It plans to do this both by signing a contract with another telecoms company and by installing its own equipment in BT exchanges. ^[39]

As of 2008 Virgin Media functions as a single company; however, it continues to rely on three existing infrastructures: the Langley-based NTL, Bromley-based Cable and Wireless and Knowsley-based Telewest platforms. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Langley (also known as Langley Marish) is a Village in the unitary authority of Slough, Berkshire in South East England. About the town The town has a large shopping and retail area including a pedestrianised High Street and The Glades shopping centre Knowsley is a village and Civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England.

In May 2008 Virgin Media began their "long term" region-by-region analogue television service switch off project, beginning with Coventry and Glasgow. Analog (or analogue) television encodes Television picture and sound information and transmits it as an Analog signal: one in which the Coventry ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in the County of West Midlands in England. Glasgow (ˈglæzgoʊ is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom ^[40]

In areas where analogue transmission will be turned off but no digital replacement introduced customers will be offered Virgin's off-network services including a Virgin-branded digital terrestrial television set-top box, with the company looking at developing a television-over-DSL service for areas outside its cable network in 2009. Analogue subscribers in areas where digital cable services are already available will be offered transfers to new packages.

The firm has signalled it wants to use the capacity to provide faster broadband internet.

Virgin have announced that they are looking for trialists to test a 'Next Generation Television' service in Kent during 2008, starting with Ashford. ^[41][42]

Non-digital areas

In a few areas Virgin Media has still not upgraded its network to offer digital television and broadband. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common In these areas Virgin Media only offers customers analogue cable-television. Parts of Bolton, Knowsley, Leicester, Maidenhead/Slough, Radcliffe, Southampton and the BT owned Milton Keynes and Westminster franchises remain analogue-only. BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (ˌbiːˈtiː bee tee) (previously known as British Telecom and still

Non-cabled areas

On 02 April 2007 Virgin Media began to offer a digital TV service called Free TV to all of the UK using the Freeview digital terrestrial television service which is available to 3 out of 4 of UK homes. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Digital Terrestrial Television ( DTTV or DTT) is an implementation of digital technology to provide a greater number of channels and/or better quality of picture and ^[43][44]

The set-top box is roughly the same size as a video tape (19cm X 9cm). The box also comes with a remote control and remote control extender, which means the box can be hidden out of sight, whilst still being able to use the remote. Over 40 digital channels including Virgin 1 and over 25 digital radio stations are available with an 8 day programme guide, access to interactive content via the Red Button and full customer service support is available online and over the phone. Digital radio describes Radio technologies which carry Information as a Digital signal, by means of a Digital modulation method Red Button is a button on the remote control for certain digital television Set top boxes in the UK, Australia, Flanders and Malaysia ^[45]

The set-top-box will be free to any Virgin Media non-cable customer taking the up the Bundle One subscription package. For non-cable customers taking a broadband service on its own, a one-off charge of £40 will apply, non-cable customers may purchase up to five additional set-top-boxes.

The next phase of this service is a combined IPTV and digital terrestrial television service similar to BT Vision and Tiscali TV. IPTV ( Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a Digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure which BT Vision is a service provided in the United Kingdom supplied by BT Retail. Tiscali TV may refer to Tiscali TV (Italy, IPTV service in Italy Tiscali TV (UK, IPTV service in the United Kingdom Virgin Media have signed an agreement with Cable & Wireless to become the unbundled local loop (LLU) network provider, providing access to 4 million homes outside of the Virgin Media cable franchise network and would include linear pay broadcast channels and video on demand. Local loop unbundling ( LLU) is the regulatory process of allowing multiple Telecommunications operators use of connections from the Telephone exchange 's Video on demand ( VOD) or Audio video on demand ( AVOD) systems allow users to select and watch/listen This was originally scheduled to be released during 2008 but it has been delayed until at least 2009 and scaled back as Virgin Media concentrate on improving its cable broadband proposition instead of focusing on competing with Sky in the premium television market. Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting 's digital Satellite television service transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28 ^[46][47][48]

PVR and high-definition services

Main article: V+

Virgin TV brands its High-definition Television (HDTV) and Digital Video Recorder (PVR) service as V+. V+ (previously known as TV Drive) is a product from Virgin Media which provides Personal Video Recording (PVR and High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition V+ (previously known as TV Drive) is a product from Virgin Media which provides Personal Video Recording (PVR and Virgin Media (when branded as Telewest) became the first UK broadcaster to offer HDTV, launching its service several months earlier than that of its chief competitor, Sky Digital. High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the The service uses a PVR set-top-box, with three tuners and a 160 GB hard disk for up to 80 hours' recording. A digital video recorder ( DVR) or personal video recorder ( PVR) is a device that records video in a digital format to a Disk drive or other A gigabyte (derived from the SI prefix Giga-) is a unit of Information or Computer A hard disk drive ( HDD) commonly referred to as a hard drive, hard disk, or fixed disk drive, is a Non-volatile storage device The presence of three tuners means that V+ can record two channels at the same time while viewers watch a third. This contrasts with most other PVR systems such as Sky+, which supports only two tuners. Sky+, or Sky Plus, is a Personal video recorder (PVR service for Sky Digital, and is very similar in principle to the TiVo service (which

Video on demand

Virgin Media ranks as the UK's largest provider of on-demand content, with over 3 million Video on Demand (VoD) customers. Video on demand ( VOD) or Audio video on demand ( AVOD) systems allow users to select and watch/listen

The company currently brands its VOD service as "On Demand". Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In contrast to the Sky Anytime system from Sky Digital, Virgin Media offers a "true" VOD system. Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting 's digital Satellite television service transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28 The service allows customers to stream programmes as and when they want to watch them from servers at the customer's local head-end. Head end may refer to A central control device required by some networks (e As the broadcaster automatically stores content on Virgin Media servers, this removes the need to pre-record many programmes. Users can search through a large library of programmes (called "TV Choice") from content-providers including the BBC, Channel 4, HBO, the Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, CBS Paramount, Buena Vista, Alliance Atlantis, Warner Brothers, Viacom (MTV, Paramount, Nickelodeon), Current TV, Teachers' TV , BabyTV and Virgin Media Television; and watch them when they want to. A value-added service ( VAS) is a Telecommunications industry term for non- core services or in short all services beyond standard voice calls and fax transmissions Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began For the Disney Channel in other countries see Disney Channel around the world. Discovery Channel is an American Satellite and Cable TV channel (also delivered via IPTV, Terrestrial television and The National Geographic Channel is a television channel that features Documentaries produced by the National Geographic Society. Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc (formerly traded as TSX:AAC was a Toronto -based media company that operated primarily as a Specialty service Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Viacom ( ( short for " Vi deo & A udio Com munications" is an American Media conglomerate with various worldwide interests MTV One is part of MTV Networks Europe. The channel is broadcast in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Paramount Comedy 1 is a Television channel shown in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, available through digital satellite ( Sky Digital Nickelodeon UK ( Nick UK for short is a cable and satellite TV network Current TV is an Emmy award winning independent media company led by former U Teachers TV is a Free-to-air television channel in the UK aimed towards people working in education BabyTV is a 24 hour commercial-free television service dedicated to infants and Toddlers under three years old Virgin Media Television (formerly two companies Flextech Television and NTL) is the content subsidiary of Virgin Media Subscribers to Virgin Media's premier television package, Size: XL, have the content included in their subscription, while other customers can pay £5 per month for unlimited access, or can utilise pay-per-view. In addition, Virgin Media offers a "Catch-up" service, which includes a free 7-day "watch-again" feature for selected television programmes broadcast by the BBC, Channel 4 and selected Virgin Media Television channels. The service also offers over 500 films (service-branded "FilmFlex"), and more than 1000 music-videos. FilmFlex, is the Pay-per-view movie service that makes up part of Virgin Media 's "On Demand" Video on Demand system As of 12 July 2007 the music videos became free for all XL customers: see http://diginews.name/digital/virgin-media-free-music-on-demand/

Virgin Media Television (formerly Flextech)

Main article: Virgin Media Television

Virgin Media Television, the content subsidiary of Virgin Media (formerly called Flextech), has a number of wholly-owned channels (including Bravo, LIVING, Trouble and Challenge). Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre. Virgin Media Television (formerly two companies Flextech Television and NTL) is the content subsidiary of Virgin Media Bravo is a British television channel owned by Virgin Media Television. Challenge is a British digital TV channel owned by Virgin Media Television. Additionally, Virgin Media Television has a 50% share in UKTV (with BBC Worldwide), and owns Sit-Up Ltd, which operates the Screenshop, bid tv, price-drop tv and speed auction tv channels. UKTV is a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media Television. sit-up Channels (or commonly sit-up) is a UK based broadcaster which launched in 2000. Screenshop is a British Digital Television channel, owned by Sit-up Ltd. bid tv (known as bid-uptv until 21 January 2005) is a digital television channel based in the UK that runs daily live Auctions It was the first price-drop tv (which dropped the dot from its name price-drop speed auction tv is a British Shopping Television channel owned by sit-up channels, which is a Virgin Media company

In June 2007 Virgin announced plans to launch a new television channel on Freeview and cable, replacing Ftn on Freeview. Ftn ( Flextech Television Network) was a Television channel from Virgin Media Television (formerly known as Flextech transmitting free-to-air on Freeview The new channel, known as "Virgin 1", launched on 1 October 2007 and broadcasts a mix of British and American programming. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[49]

Virgin Mobile

Main article: Virgin Mobile UK

Virgin Media owns Virgin Mobile Holdings (UK) plc, a virtual mobile-network operator in the United Kingdom, with over four million subscribers. Virgin Mobile UK is a Mobile phone service provider operating in the United Kingdom. ^[50]

Virgin Phone

Virgin Phone offers landline telephone services; it ranks as the number-two service behind the former UK state monopoly, BT Group. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In Economics, a monopoly (from Greek monos, alone or single + polein, to sell exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (ˌbiːˈtiː bee tee) (previously known as British Telecom and still ^[51]

Corporate affairs

Virgin Media have entered into a 30-year licensing agreement with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises Limited to licence out all the relevant Virgin sub-brands for a term of 30 years, with a ten year opt-out clause. Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 is an English Business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies Virgin Group Ltd is a branded Venture capital conglomerate of separately run companies that each use the Virgin brand of British business tycoon ^[52] Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Entertainment Investment Holdings Limited owns 34,260,959 Virgin Media common stock as of February 2007. Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 is an English Business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies ^[53]

The present company formed in 2006 as a merger of the operations of Virgin Mobile and of the UK's primary cable television operator, NTL:Telewest. Virgin Mobile is a brand used by many Mobile phone service providers based in the United Kingdom, and operating Virgin Media ranks currently as the UK's second-largest broadband Internet and fixed-line telephone company (after BT)[1] and as the fifth-largest mobile phone group. It functions as the United Kingdom's second-largest pay TV provider (after BSkyB) and third-largest digital TV provider (after BSkyB and Freeview). Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic British Sky Broadcasting ( BSkyB — Sky Television and BSB) is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the A digital system uses discrete (discontinuous values usually but not always Symbolized Numerically (hence called "digital" to represent information for Virgin Media dominates cable operations in the United Kingdom, controlling more than 90% of the market. In August 2007, Virgin Media's CEO Stephen Burch resigned following boardroom rows with chairman Jim Mooney and key investor Bill Huff. ^[54]

Business-divisions

• ntl:Telewest Business (part of the Virgin Media Group) offers commercial telephony and data-network services that provide a significant portion of its revenue-stream. ntl:Telewest Business originated in 2006 through the merger of the business divisions of ntl Incorporated (ntl Business) and Telewest Global Inc (Telewest Business). It serves the following markets:

• public sector: sells flexible services offering communication solutions.
• corporate and enterprise: portfolio of products and services, offering integration, reliability and security
• small and medium businesses: offers a range of broadband, telephony and site-to-site connectivity products and services
• service-providers: delivers wholesale and carrier-services to a range of customers, including mobile-operators, Internet service-providers and other telcos. A service provider is an Entity that provides services to other entities A telephone company (or telco) provides Telecommunications services such as Telephony and Data communications Most of the largest telcos whatever

Advertising

Virgin Media launched to much fanfare in February 2007, with a public relations event and an expensive advertising campaign which covered major UK television-channels, newspapers and billboards. Public relations (PR is the practice of managing the flow of Information between an Organization and its Publics Public relations - often referred An advertising campaign is a series of Advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In an effort to increase awareness of the group and its services, Virgin Media's campaign used bright red colours to portray its brand-image. Recent television advertising featured actress Uma Thurman and comedienne Ruby Wax, and currently features actor Samuel L Jackson, whilst the print advertising features bold typography. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Uma Karuna Thurman ( IPA: /ˈumə ˈθɝmən/ born April 29 1970 is an Academy Award -nominated American actress. Ruby Wax (born Ruby Wachs; April 19, 1953) is an American Comedian who made a Career in the United Kingdom 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21 1948 is an American Academy Award -nominated and BAFTA -winning actor Virgin Media also sponsor the Channel 4 reality TV show Big Brother. Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began Big Brother is a Reality television series broadcast in the United Kingdom and

Redundancies

In March 2007, 150 workers at Virgin Media's Teesside site received notices of redundancy that went into effect in July. The workers had the option to relocate to other sites, such as in Manchester (approximately 120 miles (190 km) away). Several moved to other departments at the Teesside site.

In July 2007 Virgin Media also axed its "Customer Experience Team" (responsible for training and coaching staff using call-monitoring and feedback processess) and have also announced the outsourcing of their business customer-services, despite poor feedback. This article refers to the act of coaching people For other uses of the word see Coach (disambiguation Coaching -a definitionProminent

In September 2007, 60 IBM contract workers at Virgin Media's Swansea site and 60 at its Albert Dock site became redundant.

More recently, approximately 200 "Face-to-Face" sales staff (who procure customers in shopping centres/events) have also received notices of redundancy. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Controversy

Leaked Memo Debacle

A uniquely thorough open letter on LeakedMemo. com, from an inside source has argued that Virgin Media's Installation and fault service is far below a reasonable standard expectable by the general public, and that Virgin Media are aware of this but choose to not address it because it is not profitable enough for them to do so. ^[55]The letter blames a lack of quality and frustration experienced by customers as a by product of Virgin Media contracting other companies (eg Avonline PLC) to provide a source of morally questionable cheap-labour - not unlike that of western companies utilising Sweatshops. A sweatshop is a working environment with very difficult or dangerous conditions usually where the workers have few rights or ways to address their situation The letter states that its UK based installation technicians are grossly underpaid, are forced into completing unsafe and illegal tasks, are consistently given workloads which are unattainable, and forced to lie to customers leaving the workers demoralized. This is considered serious by Avonline's Managing Director Mark Wynn, who has commented on the letter, but has done so without disagreeing. The open letter has received many more comments from other Virgin Media Workers, most agreeing with the original content. The letter is addressed to Sir Richard Branson, but is yet to receive a rebuttal. Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 is an English Business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies

Net Neutrality

In April 2008 Acting CEO Neil Berkett sparked controversy when he told Television, a magazine published by the Royal Television Society, “this net neutrality thing is a load of bollocks. The Royal Television Society (commonly known in the television industry as the RTS) is a British -based society for the discussion analysis and preservation of See also Network neutrality in the United States See also Network neutrality in Canada Definitions of network neutrality Advocates offer three ” According to the journalist, he claimed that any video content provider that refused to pay Virgin Media a premium for faster access would have to get stuck in “bus lanes,” having their content delivered to end users at much slower speeds than that of paying content providers. ^[56] There has been widespread criticism of this policy expressed on the Internet, large internet communities are requesting that Virgin customers end their subscription and initiate a mass boycott. ^{[57] [58] [59]}

According to Virgin Media, the comments in the article were taken out of context and misinterpreted ^[60]. A statement released by the company states: "With Virgin Media rolling out a 50Mb service later this year, we are uniquely equipped to cope with the demand for new bandwidth-hungry services. We strongly support the principle that the internet should remain a space that is open to all and we have not called for content providers to pay for distribution. However we recognise that as more customers turn to the web for content, different providers will have different needs and priorities and in the long term, it's legitimate to question how this demand will be managed. We welcome an informed debate on this issue. "

Data pimping

Main article: Data pimping

In early 2008 it was announced that the ISP arm of Virgin Media had entered into a contract (along with BT and Talk Talk) with the former spyware company Phorm (responsible under their 121Media guise for the Apropos rootkit)^[61][62] to intercept and analyse their users' click-stream data, and sell the anonymised aggregate information as part of Phorm's OIX advertising service. Data pimping is a Pejorative term used to describe the act of an Internet service provider (ISP profiting from the sale of its users' personal clickstream data An Internet service provider ( ISP, also called Internet access provider or IAP) is a company which primarily offers their customers access to the Internet BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (ˌbiːˈtiː bee tee) (previously known as British Telecom and still TalkTalk is the Landline Telephone and ISP business of The Carphone Warehouse and was launched in 2003 under the directorship Such content will be deleted Specific software is to be mentioned in this article only Phorm, formerly known as 121Media, is a Digital technology company based in London, New York, and Moscow. A rootkit is a computer virus which consists of a program (or combination of several programs designed to take fundamental control (in Unix terms "root" ^[63][64] The practice, which has become known as "data pimping", came under intense fire from various internet communities and other interested-parties who believe that the interception of data is illegal under UK law (RIPA). Data pimping is a Pejorative term used to describe the act of an Internet service provider (ISP profiting from the sale of its users' personal clickstream data ^{[65][66][67][68]} At a more fundamental level, many have argued that the ISPs and Phorm have no right to sell a commodity (a user's data) to which they have no claim of ownership. In response to questions about Phorm and the interception of data by the Webwise system Sir Tim Berners-Lee is quoted as saying:

"It's mine - you can't have it. Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA (born 8 June 1955 is an English computer scientist who is credited If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. " - Sir Tim Berners-Lee: 2008^[69]

Though Phorm initially claimed that Virgin Media had signed an exclusive contract and were committed to implementing Phorm's Webwise tracking system, Virgin Media have since distanced themselves from this and now state that they have only signed a preliminary contract with Phorm to better understand the tracking technology, and are under no obligation to implement it. ^[70] Reports on the Guardian website in May 2008 suggest that Virgin Media may be further distancing themselves from the controversial system. ^[71]

Notes

External links

• Virgin Media (digital TV, broadband, phone and mobile)
• ntl:Telewest Business
• Virgin Broadband Corporate

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