Virgin Media cable broadband posts 2 percent growth during first quarter

The cable broadband ISP, Virgin Media has released its Q1 results for the year 2008 that indicates more than 2% increase in its broadband customer base during the last quarter. Currently, there are 3,781,800 Virgin Media broadband customers as against 3,701,200 by the end of previous quarter.

The report shows that it was its cable broadband division that mainly contributed to the growth in its customer base while its ADSL broadband subscriptions has dwindled by more than 7000 customers during the same quarter. The number of Virgin Media customers who are using its ADSL lines has declined from 287,300 to 279,500.

However, Virgin Media is all set to provide faster connection speeds as it says that the subscription to its 20 MB broadband is significantly rising thanks to the IPTV services like BBC iPlayer.

Statement from Virgin Media:

“Our strategic priorities are to lead the next generation broadband market in speed and quality and to redefine the mid-market TV experience through on-demand. With respect to broadband, our 4Mb to 10Mb upgrade program is underway and we plan to launch 50Mb later this year.

Broadband growth continues and the percentage of customers on our top 20Mb tier continues to grow. We have also significantly enhanced our TV offering with the launch of BBC iPlayer. Both subscriber growth and VOD usage remain strong.”