Wonder why Virgin mobile are so behind the curve.

Richard1960 · 22-10-2016, 11:06

I know Virgin Mobile are allegedly about to launch consumer 4G ,i was wondering why they are so far behind the curve on this as even ID mobile has 4G ,VM lets business users access 4G but not consumer customers.

Each time time it seems VM is way behind and plays catch up seems strange for such a large player in the market.

The demand is there too.

Thine Wonk · 22-10-2016, 11:20

EE decided that 4G and network speed was their core USP and therefore they decided to put an exclusivity period in place to corner the ultra high speed end of the market and cement their brand before offering it to MVNOs.

ID uses Three and they don't have the same spectrum and therefore aren't competing in the top end speed performance area of the market.

Richard1960 · 22-10-2016, 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

EE decided that 4G and network speed was their core USP and therefore they decided to put an exclusivity period in place to corner the ultra high speed end of the market and cement their brand before offering it to MVNOs.

ID uses Three and they don't have the same spectrum and therefore aren't competing in the top end speed performance area of the market.

BT mobile is an MVNO on the EE network and they have 4G.😙yes I know BT now own EE.Also are exclusivity conditions not anti competitive. Seems odd also then that EE allow VM access to 4G for buisiness customers .

Mark C · 22-10-2016, 12:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard1960

Seems odd also then that EE allow VM access to 4G for buisiness customers .

Although all the VM/Liberty Global staff I've known have EE corporate phone accounts !

Go figure !

Thine Wonk · 22-10-2016, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard1960

BT mobile is an MVNO on the EE network and they have 4G.😙yes I know BT now own EE.Also are exclusivity conditions not anti competitive. Seems odd also then that EE allow VM access to 4G for buisiness customers .

They didn't get it until fairly recently though right? And as you say they own EE.

Exclusivity conditions are not anti-competitive as in this case it relates to reseller agreements, no physical network is obligated to allow another company to resell it's service and the terms it chooses or exclusivity it chooses is up to them. There would have been a cost to not allowing partners to resell their service for a period of time, but EE obviously decided that would benefit them through being able to establish the brand for superfast 4G without lots of other voices all singing the same song on TV, billboards, online etc.

They successfully recognised that they and Vodafone were in a unique position and they held back the uniqueness to make a bigger deal of it themselves before allowing others to start jumping onboard.

Richard1960 · 22-10-2016, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

They didn't get it until fairly recently though right? And as you say they own EE.

Exclusivity conditions are not anti-competitive as in this case it relates to reseller agreements, no physical network is obligated to allow another company to resell it's service and the terms it chooses or exclusivity it chooses is up to them. There would have been a cost to not allowing partners to resell their service for a period of time, but EE obviously decided that would benefit them through being able to establish the brand for superfast 4G without lots of other voices all singing the same song on TV, billboards, online etc.

Yes still think it odd that BT has 4G on its mvno network with prices cheaper then EE.😀Also the fact the EE allows VM access for buisiness customers only must be some logic there somewhere.😃

Richard1960 · 22-10-2016, 12:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard1960

Yes still think it odd that BT has 4G on its mvno network with prices cheaper then EE.��Also the fact the EE allows VM access for buisiness customers only must be some logic there somewhere.��

deleted.

Richard1960 · 22-10-2016, 12:39

Will give them another month before jumping ship to probably 3.

Ed3925 · 22-10-2016, 13:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard1960

I know Virgin Mobile are allegedly about to launch consumer 4G ,i was wondering why they are so far behind the curve on this as even ID mobile has 4G ,VM lets business users access 4G but not consumer customers.

Each time time it seems VM is way behind and plays catch up seems strange for such a large player in the market.

The demand is there too.

Unlike Virgin broadband, Virgin's SIM only deals are relatively budget/bargain. 4g may change this. I'll be interested to see the new offers.

RE Three.

Personally, I wouldn't switch to Three unless I needed very high data allowances. The coverage just isn't as good as EE. Would rather pay a bit extra for better 4g coverage. I also found a lot more 'no service' areas on Three. Indoor coverage is often an issue on both, but I do find that EE's inbuilt WiFi calling works well. I do not like Three in Touch very much, although it certainly has a place and it work make a lot of sense for EE to launch a similar app for older and non-EE devices which don't support WiFi or 4g calling.

Richard1960 · 22-10-2016, 17:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed3925

Unlike Virgin broadband, Virgin's SIM only deals are relatively budget/bargain. 4g may change this. I'll be interested to see the new offers.

RE Three.

Personally, I wouldn't switch to Three unless I needed very high data allowances. The coverage just isn't as good as EE. Would rather pay a bit extra for better 4g coverage. I also found a lot more 'no service' areas on Three. Indoor coverage is often an issue on both, but I do find that EE's inbuilt WiFi calling works well. I do not like Three in Touch very much, although it certainly has a place and it work make a lot of sense for EE to launch a similar app for older and non-EE devices which don't support WiFi or 4g calling.

I have been on Three before switching to VM with a contract,Three offers a good service where i live and travel to quite frequesntly,the only thing that puts me off is lack of hotspots like BT have to use handy in cities and towns to save your dada useage.

I do need a reasonable data allowance as i stream radio a lot on the move and three offers some good data packages.

Also they do monthly rolling contracts so i do not have to tie myself in to say a 12 month deal,one of only a few providers to do rolling monthly contracts.

Carl_Boys · 22-10-2016, 19:22

I wouldn't bother with Virgin. 3G speeds are slow last time I used compared to EE. My wife is on the 16gb EE sim only deal at 19.99 a month plus cash back. If She wasn't in contract id probably look at Vodafone 25gb with cash back and free entertainment package or Spotify.

swb1964 · 22-10-2016, 21:49

I do wonder what the future for Virgin media is, now that the network they piggy back on is owned by one of their biggest competitors....

Ed3925 · 22-10-2016, 22:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by swb1964

I do wonder what the future for Virgin media is, now that the network they piggy back on is owned by one of their biggest competitors....

I don't suppose Virgin mobile is a very profitable arm of the business compared with the broadband division, but it does allow them to offer 'quad play' - which appears to be the trend right now.

LostFool · 23-10-2016, 09:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard1960

Will give them another month before jumping ship to probably 3.

Same here. I'm currently on Virgin's £15 monthly contract for unlimited text/calls and 3GB of data which I'm fairly happy with but I would like to get 4G and 3's "feel at home" roaming is attractive.

Mark C · 23-10-2016, 09:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostFool

Same here. I'm currently on Virgin's £15 monthly contract for unlimited text/calls and 3GB of data which I'm fairly happy with but I would like to get 4G and 3's "feel at home" roaming is attractive.

My lad has just jumped from Virgin PAYG 3GB/mth allowance, to Three at 12 GB/mth

Weirdly his use with Virgin used to go right up to, and sometimes exceed 3GB, but with Three he's yet to exceed 2GB. Three is 4G too, doesn't make sense ? Were Virgin over counting his data ?

bigfootffk · 23-10-2016, 10:21

I switched to iD a couple of months ago. 6GB of data, 500 minutes of call time and 5000 texts all for 12.5 a month. I just got so fed up waiting for virgin to add 4G.

LostFool · 23-10-2016, 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark C

My lad has just jumped from Virgin PAYG 3GB/mth allowance, to Three at 12 GB/mth

Weirdly his use with Virgin used to go right up to, and sometimes exceed 3GB, but with Three he's yet to exceed 2GB. Three is 4G too, doesn't make sense ? Were Virgin over counting his data ?

No idea but I never get anywhere near my 3GB limit on Virgin as I'm on wi-fi at home, work and the pub and hardly ever do any high bandwidth stuff when out and about - though that would probably change if I had 4G.

david16 · 23-10-2016, 17:12

Virgin are very expensive on PAYG if you use data and texts, and make phone calls.

And you have to wait until the start of the next month to get 3GB of data to last a full month if you have topped up ￡15 this month.

1andrew1 · 23-10-2016, 17:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by swb1964

I do wonder what the future for Virgin media is, now that the network they piggy back on is owned by one of their biggest competitors....

They're introducing 4G, again through EE so the future looks positive.
When LGI and Vodafone were in merger talks I think VM postponed signing a deal with EE but now this is not happening VM has proceded with EE. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...p-on-4g-shift/

1andrew1 · 23-10-2016, 17:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark C

Although all the VM/Liberty Global staff I've known have EE corporate phone accounts !

Go figure !

I know some staff at one mobile phone company who have to sign up with a competitor so the employer can see how well the competitor performs in terns of service etc.

david16 · 23-10-2016, 20:13

Virgin media are just coming into the home strait when all their other main competitors are close to the finishing line.

That's how far behind Virgin media really are in most aspects of their services apart from their home broadband.

Thine Wonk · 24-10-2016, 14:44

Their broadband needs to stop throttling upload and just offer whatever speed people have paid for though, also the upload is very poor compared to BT etc I think they should look into that side of it really as they have a bad reputation with gamers, Youtubers and streamers do to that policy, which BT don't have.

Carl_Boys · 24-10-2016, 20:04

[quote=Thine Wonk;84332176]Their broadband needs to stop throttling upload and just offer whatever speed people have paid for though, also the upload is very poor compared to BT etc I think they should look into that side of it really as they have a bad reputation with gamers, Youtubers and streamers do to that policy, which BT don't have.[/QUOTE

The vivid gamer give you 20mb upload so traffic management.]

carguy143 · 24-10-2016, 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

They didn't get it until fairly recently though right? And as you say they own EE.

I've been on BT Mobile since August 2015 and they've always had 4g whilst I've been on them.

d123 · 24-10-2016, 21:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

They didn't get it until fairly recently though right? And as you say they own EE.
.

BT Mobile have always had 4G, they also don't own EE...

BT Mobile is an MVNO of BT Consumer, a division of the BT Group, EE is another division of the BT Group.

22-10-2016, 11:06	#1
Richard1960 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 13,433	Wonder why Virgin mobile are so behind the curve. I know Virgin Mobile are allegedly about to launch consumer 4G ,i was wondering why they are so far behind the curve on this as even ID mobile has 4G ,VM lets business users access 4G but not consumer customers. Each time time it seems VM is way behind and plays catch up seems strange for such a large player in the market. The demand is there too.

22-10-2016, 11:20	#2
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	EE decided that 4G and network speed was their core USP and therefore they decided to put an exclusivity period in place to corner the ultra high speed end of the market and cement their brand before offering it to MVNOs. ID uses Three and they don't have the same spectrum and therefore aren't competing in the top end speed performance area of the market.

22-10-2016, 11:45	#3
Richard1960 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 13,433	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk EE decided that 4G and network speed was their core USP and therefore they decided to put an exclusivity period in place to corner the ultra high speed end of the market and cement their brand before offering it to MVNOs. ID uses Three and they don't have the same spectrum and therefore aren't competing in the top end speed performance area of the market. BT mobile is an MVNO on the EE network and they have 4G.😙yes I know BT now own EE.Also are exclusivity conditions not anti competitive. Seems odd also then that EE allow VM access to 4G for buisiness customers .

22-10-2016, 12:10	#4
Mark C Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Hampshire Posts: 8,102	Quote: Originally Posted by Richard1960 Seems odd also then that EE allow VM access to 4G for buisiness customers . Although all the VM/Liberty Global staff I've known have EE corporate phone accounts ! Go figure !

22-10-2016, 12:13	#5
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	Quote: Originally Posted by Richard1960 BT mobile is an MVNO on the EE network and they have 4G.😙yes I know BT now own EE.Also are exclusivity conditions not anti competitive. Seems odd also then that EE allow VM access to 4G for buisiness customers . They didn't get it until fairly recently though right? And as you say they own EE. Exclusivity conditions are not anti-competitive as in this case it relates to reseller agreements, no physical network is obligated to allow another company to resell it's service and the terms it chooses or exclusivity it chooses is up to them. There would have been a cost to not allowing partners to resell their service for a period of time, but EE obviously decided that would benefit them through being able to establish the brand for superfast 4G without lots of other voices all singing the same song on TV, billboards, online etc. They successfully recognised that they and Vodafone were in a unique position and they held back the uniqueness to make a bigger deal of it themselves before allowing others to start jumping onboard.

22-10-2016, 12:19	#6
Richard1960 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 13,433	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk They didn't get it until fairly recently though right? And as you say they own EE. Exclusivity conditions are not anti-competitive as in this case it relates to reseller agreements, no physical network is obligated to allow another company to resell it's service and the terms it chooses or exclusivity it chooses is up to them. There would have been a cost to not allowing partners to resell their service for a period of time, but EE obviously decided that would benefit them through being able to establish the brand for superfast 4G without lots of other voices all singing the same song on TV, billboards, online etc. Yes still think it odd that BT has 4G on its mvno network with prices cheaper then EE.😀Also the fact the EE allows VM access for buisiness customers only must be some logic there somewhere.😃

22-10-2016, 12:39	#7
Richard1960 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 13,433	Quote: Originally Posted by Richard1960 Yes still think it odd that BT has 4G on its mvno network with prices cheaper then EE.��Also the fact the EE allows VM access for buisiness customers only must be some logic there somewhere.�� deleted.

22-10-2016, 13:01	#9
Ed3925 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Posts: 97	Quote: Originally Posted by Richard1960 I know Virgin Mobile are allegedly about to launch consumer 4G ,i was wondering why they are so far behind the curve on this as even ID mobile has 4G ,VM lets business users access 4G but not consumer customers. Each time time it seems VM is way behind and plays catch up seems strange for such a large player in the market. The demand is there too. Unlike Virgin broadband, Virgin's SIM only deals are relatively budget/bargain. 4g may change this. I'll be interested to see the new offers. RE Three. Personally, I wouldn't switch to Three unless I needed very high data allowances. The coverage just isn't as good as EE. Would rather pay a bit extra for better 4g coverage. I also found a lot more 'no service' areas on Three. Indoor coverage is often an issue on both, but I do find that EE's inbuilt WiFi calling works well. I do not like Three in Touch very much, although it certainly has a place and it work make a lot of sense for EE to launch a similar app for older and non-EE devices which don't support WiFi or 4g calling.

22-10-2016, 17:06	#10
Richard1960 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 13,433	Quote: Originally Posted by Ed3925 Unlike Virgin broadband, Virgin's SIM only deals are relatively budget/bargain. 4g may change this. I'll be interested to see the new offers. RE Three. Personally, I wouldn't switch to Three unless I needed very high data allowances. The coverage just isn't as good as EE. Would rather pay a bit extra for better 4g coverage. I also found a lot more 'no service' areas on Three. Indoor coverage is often an issue on both, but I do find that EE's inbuilt WiFi calling works well. I do not like Three in Touch very much, although it certainly has a place and it work make a lot of sense for EE to launch a similar app for older and non-EE devices which don't support WiFi or 4g calling. I have been on Three before switching to VM with a contract,Three offers a good service where i live and travel to quite frequesntly,the only thing that puts me off is lack of hotspots like BT have to use handy in cities and towns to save your dada useage. I do need a reasonable data allowance as i stream radio a lot on the move and three offers some good data packages. Also they do monthly rolling contracts so i do not have to tie myself in to say a 12 month deal,one of only a few providers to do rolling monthly contracts.

22-10-2016, 19:22	#11
Carl_Boys Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 164	I wouldn't bother with Virgin. 3G speeds are slow last time I used compared to EE. My wife is on the 16gb EE sim only deal at 19.99 a month plus cash back. If She wasn't in contract id probably look at Vodafone 25gb with cash back and free entertainment package or Spotify.

22-10-2016, 21:49	#12
swb1964 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 2,455	I do wonder what the future for Virgin media is, now that the network they piggy back on is owned by one of their biggest competitors....

22-10-2016, 22:04	#13
Ed3925 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Posts: 97	Quote: Originally Posted by swb1964 I do wonder what the future for Virgin media is, now that the network they piggy back on is owned by one of their biggest competitors.... I don't suppose Virgin mobile is a very profitable arm of the business compared with the broadband division, but it does allow them to offer 'quad play' - which appears to be the trend right now.

23-10-2016, 09:27	#14
LostFool Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 59,737	Quote: Originally Posted by Richard1960 Will give them another month before jumping ship to probably 3. Same here. I'm currently on Virgin's £15 monthly contract for unlimited text/calls and 3GB of data which I'm fairly happy with but I would like to get 4G and 3's "feel at home" roaming is attractive.

23-10-2016, 09:34	#15
Mark C Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Hampshire Posts: 8,102	Quote: Originally Posted by LostFool Same here. I'm currently on Virgin's £15 monthly contract for unlimited text/calls and 3GB of data which I'm fairly happy with but I would like to get 4G and 3's "feel at home" roaming is attractive. My lad has just jumped from Virgin PAYG 3GB/mth allowance, to Three at 12 GB/mth Weirdly his use with Virgin used to go right up to, and sometimes exceed 3GB, but with Three he's yet to exceed 2GB. Three is 4G too, doesn't make sense ? Were Virgin over counting his data ?

23-10-2016, 10:21	#16
bigfootffk Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: North Devon Posts: 272	I switched to iD a couple of months ago. 6GB of data, 500 minutes of call time and 5000 texts all for 12.5 a month. I just got so fed up waiting for virgin to add 4G.

23-10-2016, 11:22	#17
LostFool Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 59,737	Quote: Originally Posted by Mark C My lad has just jumped from Virgin PAYG 3GB/mth allowance, to Three at 12 GB/mth Weirdly his use with Virgin used to go right up to, and sometimes exceed 3GB, but with Three he's yet to exceed 2GB. Three is 4G too, doesn't make sense ? Were Virgin over counting his data ? No idea but I never get anywhere near my 3GB limit on Virgin as I'm on wi-fi at home, work and the pub and hardly ever do any high bandwidth stuff when out and about - though that would probably change if I had 4G.

23-10-2016, 17:12	#18
david16 Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Central Belt Posts: 12,290	Virgin are very expensive on PAYG if you use data and texts, and make phone calls. And you have to wait until the start of the next month to get 3GB of data to last a full month if you have topped up ￡15 this month.

23-10-2016, 17:38	#19
1andrew1 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 3,981	Quote: Originally Posted by swb1964 I do wonder what the future for Virgin media is, now that the network they piggy back on is owned by one of their biggest competitors.... They're introducing 4G, again through EE so the future looks positive. When LGI and Vodafone were in merger talks I think VM postponed signing a deal with EE but now this is not happening VM has proceded with EE. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...p-on-4g-shift/

23-10-2016, 17:41	#20
1andrew1 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 3,981	Quote: Originally Posted by Mark C Although all the VM/Liberty Global staff I've known have EE corporate phone accounts ! Go figure ! I know some staff at one mobile phone company who have to sign up with a competitor so the employer can see how well the competitor performs in terns of service etc.

23-10-2016, 20:13	#21
david16 Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Central Belt Posts: 12,290	Virgin media are just coming into the home strait when all their other main competitors are close to the finishing line. That's how far behind Virgin media really are in most aspects of their services apart from their home broadband.

24-10-2016, 14:44	#22
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	Their broadband needs to stop throttling upload and just offer whatever speed people have paid for though, also the upload is very poor compared to BT etc I think they should look into that side of it really as they have a bad reputation with gamers, Youtubers and streamers do to that policy, which BT don't have.

DS Forums

Wonder why Virgin mobile are so behind the curve.

24-10-2016, 20:04	#23
Carl_Boys Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 164	[quote=Thine Wonk;84332176]Their broadband needs to stop throttling upload and just offer whatever speed people have paid for though, also the upload is very poor compared to BT etc I think they should look into that side of it really as they have a bad reputation with gamers, Youtubers and streamers do to that policy, which BT don't have.[/QUOTE The vivid gamer give you 20mb upload so traffic management.]

24-10-2016, 21:20	#24
carguy143 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Leyland Posts: 1,971	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk They didn't get it until fairly recently though right? And as you say they own EE. I've been on BT Mobile since August 2015 and they've always had 4g whilst I've been on them.

24-10-2016, 21:29	#25
d123 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3,993	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk They didn't get it until fairly recently though right? And as you say they own EE. . BT Mobile have always had 4G, they also don't own EE... BT Mobile is an MVNO of BT Consumer, a division of the BT Group, EE is another division of the BT Group.