Cable & Wireless bags landmark deal with Virgin Media

Cable & Wireless announced a four-year agreement with Virgin Media to become its exclusive unbundled local loop (LLU) network provider on a wholesale basis until 2011.

With its extensive LLU footprint giving access to around 4 mln additional homes, Cable & Wireless will supply wholesale broadband services to support Virgin Media’s existing off net customers as well as new customers.

Virgin Media will be able to offer broadband, phone and television service to parts of the country not currently served by its cable network.

Thanks to its long standing relationships with a number of Virgin brands, including Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Group, Cable & Wireless has the experience and understanding of Virgin’s culture.

Neil Berkett, Chief Operating Officer, Virgin Media, said: ” Cable & Wireless’ service and technology will allow us to offer enhanced broadband and home phone services to an additional 4 mln customers. It also lays a foundation for us to provide our unique quadplay services to the 50% of households outside our cable network.”

The Cable & Wireless UK business unit provides enterprise and carrier solutions to the largest users of telecoms services across the UK, US, continental Europe and Asia, and wholesale broadband services in the UK.
The International business unit operates integrated telecommunications companies in 33 countries offering mobile, broadband, domestic and international fixed line services to residential and business customers, with principal operations in the Caribbean, Panama, Macau, Monaco and the Channel Islands.

Virgin Media is an innovative and pioneering UK entertainment and communications business and has almost 10 mln customers. For the first time consumers can get everything they need from one company – the UK’s only quadplay of TV, broadband, phone and mobile plus the most advanced TV on demand service available, the UK’s first high definition TV service and V+, our high specification personal video recorder. We’re the UK‘s most popular broadband provider, the largest virtual mobile network operator and the second largest provider of pay TV and home phone.

Virgin Media owns two content businesses – Virgin Media Television (VMTV) and sit-up. VMTV owns seven entertainment channels – LIVINGtv, LIVINGtv 2, Bravo, Bravo 2, Challenge, Trouble and Ftn – and is a 50% partner in UKTV which consists of ten channels including UKTV Gold and UKTV History. sit-up runs retail TV channels bid tv, price-drop tv and speed auctiontv.