Another High Street Rebrand

[bilky asko]

Considering how badly Virgin Media have pushed their coveted quad play (it wasn't the revolutionary move that was predicted all those years ago), it shouldn't take much for BT to overtake Virgin in the quad play stakes, especially given the rise of Netflix.

Virgin never really got the mobile bit right in terms of the offer, rubbish handsets, rubbish plans, and different customer service, contact points etc, but I guess that's because it's a MVNO, so the back office may be tied to to the 'host' network's systems.

Actually doesn't Virgin Mobile use EE for it's network. Wonder how long such deals last, and if BT would/could move to try and end it?

It originally used T-Mobile; I don't think Virgin customers gained the Orange coverage at the same time as T-Mobile and Orange customers - in fact, I'm not even sure if they ever did get it. They haven't got 4G yet, so it's conceivable that the change was never made.

[WillPS]

Considering how badly Virgin Media have pushed their coveted quad play (it wasn't the revolutionary move that was predicted all those years ago), it shouldn't take much for BT to overtake Virgin in the quad play stakes, especially given the rise of Netflix.

Virgin never really got the mobile bit right in terms of the offer, rubbish handsets, rubbish plans, and different customer service, contact points etc, but I guess that's because it's a MVNO, so the back office may be tied to to the 'host' network's systems.

Actually doesn't Virgin Mobile use EE for it's network. Wonder how long such deals last, and if BT would/could move to try and end it?

It originally used T-Mobile; I don't think Virgin customers gained the Orange coverage at the same time as T-Mobile and Orange customers - in fact, I'm not even sure if they ever did get it. They haven't got 4G yet, so it's conceivable that the change was never made.

Virgin got it a few months later. Fact fans can see which network they're on looking at the carrier name "Virgin" (capital V) = T-Mobile/EE; "virgin" (lowercase v) = Orange. For a little while you could even trick it in to giving you Orange Wednesday codes.

EE have been reluctant to resell 4G.

What will BT do with the former Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange/EE Home Broadband offer?

[WillPS]

Considering how badly Virgin Media have pushed their coveted quad play (it wasn't the revolutionary move that was predicted all those years ago), it shouldn't take much for BT to overtake Virgin in the quad play stakes, especially given the rise of Netflix.

Virgin never really got the mobile bit right in terms of the offer, rubbish handsets, rubbish plans, and different customer service, contact points etc, but I guess that's because it's a MVNO, so the back office may be tied to to the 'host' network's systems.

Actually doesn't Virgin Mobile use EE for it's network. Wonder how long such deals last, and if BT would/could move to try and end it?

I reluctantly moved away from Virgin Mobile after 3 happy years and a year before that (interrupted by 18 months of hell with Vodafone; capped off by them ruining my credit file - thanks for that).

Their SIM-only plans were market leading when they came about in 2006/7. Handset choice is always a strange one - who remembers the Lobster 700TV (which was actually a brilliant phone)? But that said until this time around I've always got the one I wanted at the lowest rate available or in the case of my final contract with them far lower (+15% student discount!). I was paying ~£12/month for a Blackberry Bold 9790; easy to scoff at now but for an August 2012 contract that was pretty decent.

Customer service has always been good; sometimes great. Used to nark me that they'd charge you 10p to talk to them (which you'd then have to ask that they remove, and they always did). Unfortunately most of it is foreign nowadays; but still, in my experience if you ring and ask for some extra minutes/texts they'd always oblige and never charge extra.

I would have stayed, but I'd set my heart on the Blackberry Passport (which is, by the way, the best phone I've ever had or used); and to stay on Virgin would have meant buying the phone outright with a SIM-only deal - and that worked out about £50 more than getting it through Carphone Warehouse on an EE 4G deal.

[thegeek]

What will BT do with the former Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange/EE Home Broadband offer?

When BT Sport launched, a former colleague of mine said he was quite tempted to switch to BT Broadband, but didn't want to change his Freeserve email address. Perhaps he'll get to keep it and get the channels for free after all.

[Martin Phillp]

I've been with Virgin Mobile since it first launched it's PAYG plans and now on it's Big Data and Texts plan. £10 gives you 1GB (used to be unlimited) and 3000 texts. However the credit you put on to maintain the tariff plan can be used to convert into a bundle, which gives me 150 mins and an extra 25 texts.

4G isn't really for me and the EE network just about copes with me using the phone to check social media and browse, although voice calls in the house are next to impossible without going outside. I had considered changing to Vodafone or O2 which has a stronger signal here, but there's nothing that is an incentive for me in comparison to Virgin.

[scottishtv]

4G isn't really for me

What? It will be one day. That's like saying "I'd rather not have broadband".

[Martin Phillp]

4G isn't really for me

What? It will be one day. That's like saying "I'd rather not have broadband".

Maybe, but it's a bonus rather than an essential currently. I also survived without having ADSL2 landline broadband until this year, instead using mobile HSPA+. Speed isn't everything if you're using the phone for basic browsing.

[Nick Harvey]

What? It will be one day. That's like saying "I'd rather not have broadband".

What a strange comment.

I assume you're one of those people who would die if you found you couldn't connect to your favourite website for more than fifteen minutes.

I'd certainly be quite happy with dial-up, rather than broadband. I've only got broadband because it's now the cheaper option.

I think you need to appreciate that there are still millions of people in this world who would prefer to just go out and talk to others.

My mobile phone is for talking to people with. Some months, I send a text, most months I don't. I've never used the data allocation they insist they include in my monthly package.

People like me do, actually, still exist, you know.

[scottishtv]

I assume you're one of those people who would die if you found you couldn't connect to your favourite website for more than fifteen minutes.

What a strange comment.

I don't think that attempted slight is really warranted. I took Martin's post at face value, but he's since clarified he doesn't feel he needs it right now.

A few years ago my employer started allowing us to work from home a few days a week, for a variety of reasons. However, due to the type of business I'm in, this would never have been possible without a stable, decent broadband connection. I don't think business lobby groups up and down the country are calling for investment in faster internet just so people can check websites every few minutes. In addition, I find my 4G connection quite cheap on a SIM only deal, and more stable, reliable and faster than even on-board WiFi when I'm working on trains/out of office etc.

As for leisure, I used to spend quite a lot on Blu-Rays, DVDs, CDs and rentals. Online streaming in both movies and music has completely expanded both the range and choice available, whilst lowering the cost (to me) considerably. I'm still blown away at how quickly this technology has expanded in recent years, and the choice now available.

Personally, I don't use Facebook, don't tweet, rarely use messaging apps and my friends complain I'm a bad texter. I'd much rather meet friends in person, and detest it when people I'm around are constantly checking social media or messaging when we're out socialising. That said, I value service like Skype, which mean I've been able to see and speak to relations, friends and even see newborn members of our family without having to just rely on occasional photos or visits. I can communicate with multiple colleagues in various locations, share documents, desktops without having to travel and waste time out of the office. I don't see there having to be a choice between being a largely 'offline' communicator or a largely 'online' communitcator, but do agree that there should really need to be a balance.

However, I don't appreciate being characterised as some sort of up-myself, speed-for-the-sake of it, shallow arsehole who's addicted to social media and trending websites. Especially when that assumption has been made based on a single sentence in one forum post.

[Martin Phillp]

I think it all comes down to when you personally feel it's right to switch. I only purchased a Smart TV will all the streaming capability of Netflix, Amazon Prime and NOW TV back in September and haven't looked back, but I wouldn't have considered it beforehand, despite having a broadband connection and a PC/Smartphone. However, I also still purchased new release DVD's since then.

For my needs currently, despite living in the 3G congested area that is London, 3G on VM is suitable for my needs.

[thegeek]

The oddball branch of Currys PC World Black in Westfield Stratford City appears to have been rebranded into a Currys PC World Carphone Warehouse:



(Perhaps I should see them about getting a phone with a better camera?)