Virgin Media broadband-only prices to go up in October

Virgin Media will increase its package prices for broadband-only customers by £1.50 from October.

The additional £1.50 will apply to those on cable broadband deals and only to customers who joined or re-contracted before May 29, 2014.

The charge increase is part of Virgin Media’s price shuffle that was introduced when the ISP added its range of Big Bundles in May, that allow customers to mix and match services offered by the company, such as 50Mbps, 100Mbps or 152Mbps speeds, Virgin Media TiVo smart TV service, SIM-only mobile plans and unlimited home phone plans.

Joe Lathan, director of broadband at Virgin Media said, “As part of a review of our services, we are changing the price of taking just broadband from us.

“Virgin Media is the only major provider able to supply broadband without a phone line because of our unique cable network and so we remain unbeatable value for money.”

In letters sent to Virgin Media broadband customers, the supplier said it is ‘committed to continually delivering an award-winning broadband service that’s the widest available in the UK’.

The company also said the increase in cost will go towards improving the services already available, meaning customers will be able to benefit from faster speeds, allowing better streaming and fewer interruptions.

Earlier this month, it was announced Virgin Media’s customer numbers were firmly lodged just under 4.5m, as fibre-optic cable customers increase and those using the slower copper cable option decrease.

A third of Virgin’s customers are using its superfast broadband service that offers speeds up to 60Mbps. According to Virgin, these speeds are ‘five times faster than the national average and are otherwise unobtainable across much of the country’.

Presumably, these price hikes are to encourage Virgin Media customers to sign up to the company’s phone and TV services rather than just using broadband.