Virgin Media O2 has a never-before-seen plan to tackle BT Broadband and EE
NEWLY-MERGED Virgin Media O2 has revealed its first bundle that combines Virgin Media broadband with an O2 SIM deal.
Less than 150 days after the £31billion merger between Virgin Media and O2 was completed, the new company has launched its first bundle designed to combine the strengths of both brands. For the first time, customers can buy Virgin Media and O2 products together – and will be rewarded for doing so.
Virgin Media will boost broadband speeds, slash the price of new tablets and smartphones, double mobile data and hand out free worldwide roaming to O2 customers who decide to ditch their current broadband provider and move to Virgin Media, or Virgin Media customers who move over to O2 for their mobile plan.
With this new shake-up, Virgin Media O2 is directly competing with BT, which bought mobile brand EE for £12.5billion back in 2015. The telecoms giant offers discounts for customers who sign-up to both a BT broadband plan and an eligible EE mobile plan. Likewise, Virgin Media O2 now wants to keep customers exclusively on its brands.
Virgin Media O2's new range, branded VOLT, is designed to replace the existing "Oomph" bundles that combine full-fibre broadband, television, and SIM-only deals for smartphones. Until now, Virgin Media relied on Vodafone's masts to supply Virgin Mobile customers with 4G and 5G signal. That agreement will remain in place for a few more years, however, it seems that Virgin Media is able to use O2's nationwide infrastructure for new customers.
Virgin Media O2 has revealed the benefits for those who decide to move their television, home broadband, and mobile phone in-house with the newly-merged brands.
First up, Virgin Media O2 will boost your full-fibre broadband connection to the next available tier free of charge. So, if you're paying for an M100 connection, which offers average download speeds of 108Mbps, you'll be bumped up to M200, which offers up to 213Mbps. Of course, if you're already on the fastest plan available in your area, you won't see the benefit. Likewise, those who already pay for 1Gbps won't see a speed boost – as that's the maximum download speed available from Virgin right now.
If you find any rooms at home where you can't connect to the Wi-Fi from your Virgin Media router, the company will send out its Plume-powered WiFi Pods at no extra cost. These create a mesh network, which boosts the signal around your house to eliminate blackspots.
Virgin Media O2 will double the mobile data on every O2 Pay Monthly plan in your name. So, if you've signed-up for a 5GB SIM-Only deal from O2 at a cost of £12 a month, you will see that monthly allowance increase to 10GB at no extra cost. Coupled with the broadband speed boosts at home, this is a serious incentive.
O2 customers who decide to take out a Virgin Media broadband bundle will be treated to free-roaming in 75 destinations worldwide, including the United States, Australia and Spain. That means you won't have to pay to check emails, send WhatsApp, and make FaceTime video calls from abroad back home.
And finally, Virgin Media customers will be able to access Priority Deals on high street brands, tickets and experiences. This has been available to O2 customers for some time, but will now be extended to those who have both broadband at home and an O2 mobile contract.
Say hello to Volt ⚡@O2 and @VirginMedia have joined forces to supercharge the UK. Our first joint product offers customers:
— Virgin Media O2 News (@VMO2News) October 18, 2021
✌️ Double data ⚡
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The Ultimate VOLT Bundle, which replaces the Ultimate Oomph bundle, includes access to Gig1 broadband (downloads faster than 1,000Mbps – around 14x quicker than the UK average download speed), 230 channels including Sky Sports HD and Sky Cinema HD on the Virgin Media TV 360 set-top box, free calls to UK landlines and mobiles at any time, and an O2 sim card with unlimited 5G data, calls and texts.
“With Volt, we’re combining the speed and reliability of Virgin Media’s broadband and O2’s mobile networks alongside a variety of incredible perks to give our customers more,” explains Jeff Dodds, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Media O2. “The launch of converged services in less than 150 days as a business is a huge milestone moment and demonstrates the momentum we have behind our commitment to supercharge connectivity across the UK. This is just the start.”