ABOUT VIRGIN MEDIA BUSINESS
OUR STORY
The Virgin Media Business story so far
There’s a narrative and purpose moving us forward. We’re here to help you unleash your full digital potential.
February 2010 | In the very beginning
The tier one telecom's provider, formerly known as ntl:Telewest Business, becomes Virgin Media Business. We hold a spectacular party and Richard Branson cuts the ribbon.
September 2010 | Freeing business from constraints
We launch Big Red Internet, the first dedicated leased line service that gives our customers all the bandwidth they need, without restrictions or extra charges.
November 2010 | Government says we’re Number 1
We offer our £13bn nationwide optical fibre network to the UK government for its Public Services Network initiative.
February 2011 | More speed for data centres
Our data team rolls out carrier-grade connectivity to data centres across the UK, giving them the chance to connect up to 8,000 customers at speeds of up to 10Gbit/s.
May 2011 | Partnering with ICM
Together, we launch our colocation service, giving UK businesses the chance to connect to 11 data centres across the country and take their first steps towards a fully virtualised IT infrastructure.
September 2011 | Virtual servers and desktops
Before the halcyon days of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, we launched our own foray into a rental model for cloud computing.
September 2011 | EE and Three deals
We begin partnering with these major mobile players, signing a £100 million, eight-year contract for backhaul on their networks.
February 2012 | Cloud computing for the public sector
We’re given the green light to provide cloud computing to the public sector with accreditation under the G-Cloud framework initiative. This means we can provide Infrastructure-as-a-Service to public sector organisations.
March 2012 | Innovation Nation
In partnership with The Guardian we launch Innovation Nation, a competition designed to find the UK’s most innovative organisations and CIOs.
May 2012 | An award-winning Cloud
Our Cloud Service wins the ‘Cloud Computing Innovations of the Year’ category in the Information Age Awards. In the same month we’re recognised for our operational excellence by the British Quality Foundation.
June 2012 | Lots of progress
In another step forward for our work within the public sector, we’re awarded a place in four of the ten ‘lots’ of the Public Services Network (PSN) Framework.
September 2012 | Researching the future
We launch Generation IP, a huge research project looking at the concept of a hyper-connected Britain in 2025. Think: printing your own medication, a world with no workplace, a personal avatar keeping you in check.
November 2012 | Branching out
We win the contract for the UK’s first free public Wi-Fi networks outside London — in Leeds and Bradford.
May 2013 | In bed with Sky
We announce a five-year contract with BSkyB to provide backhaul network capacity. The £49 million contract gives around a third of BSkyB’s unbundled local exchanges speeds of up to 10Gbit/s using our High Capacity Services.
June 2013 | A bit of a shake-up
We become part of Liberty Global plc to form the world’s leading broadband communications company. Together, we serve 25 million customers across 14 countries.
August 2013 | Another PSN extension
We extend our Public Services Network security capabilities through our third accreditation in a row, retaining our position as leading government supplier.
September 2013 | A big hello to Peter Kelly
Our new Managing Director brings significant industry depth in the mobile, enterprise and carrier markets in the UK, Europe and the USA.
September 2013 | Going mobile with EE
We launch our first mobile service for public and private sector organisations through EE, the UK’s first 4G mobile network.
January 2014 | Extra security
We add an encrypted overlay service to the PSN product range. This means increased security of data for the public sector organisations we work with.
April 2014 | Shaping futures through tech
We launch Generation Tech, the UK's first state-of-the-nation review of the vital role that technology plays in education. Children in 20,000 schools are invited by Richard Branson to share how technology supports their learning and shapes futures.
May 2014 | London gets on board
The capital becomes the first region to connect all its local authorities and services to the Public Services Network (PSN), an initiative co-ordinated by London Grid Ltd and powered by us.
September 2014 | A new broadband menu
We launch three offerings to suit the needs of different businesses. We call them Red Value, Red Speed and Red Performance.
February 2015 | Lightning speed
We announce Project Lightning, a £3bn investment in broadband digital infrastructure – the largest investment in fibre that any telco has made for more than a decade. Some four million more UK homes and businesses will now get broadband speeds of up to 152Mb.
March 2015 | Pitching to Rich
We launch a competition with a £1million prize fund for the UK's businesses: #VOOM: Pitch to Rich 2015. More than 2,500 entries are received and almost a million people in Britain cast their votes.
March 2015 | From small beginnings
We unveil our first unified communication's product for startups and smaller companies, one that allows them to stay in touch regardless of where they are or which device they’re using.
August 2015 | 10 out of 10
We’re appointed as a supplier in all 10 categories of the government’s new Network Services framework (known as RM1045).
October 2015 | Finding digital opportunities
In a major report complied by Oxford Economics, we uncovered the UK’s £92billion digital opportunity. The report found that in the previous year, digital capabilities generated £123 billion in business revenues, equivalent to 3.4% of total GDP. And that UK companies expected to add over one million new jobs over the next two years as a direct result of enhancing digital capabilities But, most importantly, if every company fulfilled their digital potential an additional £92billion would be added to GDP.
November 2015 | Accelerating
We launch the Virgin Media Accelerator programme – a bid to find 10 innovative startups who can shake our worlds. We succeed and continue to track the success of companies like Sponsokit, Stepsize and Wizdish.
November 2015 | Breaking the speed barrier
We announce ultrafast broadband speeds of up to 300Mbps. It proves very popular and helps our customers #VOOM.
March 2016 | Doing more for small business
Our entry into the indirect partner market is deemed the ‘most successful launch ever’ and we reach even more small and medium businesses.
June 2016 | Record-breaking quantities of #VOOM
As part of #VOOM 2016, we secure the Guinness World Records title for the longest business pitch marathon. Over the course of 28 hours and 51 minutes, 158 businesses pitched back-to-back to a panel of three judges who stay awake for the lot.
September 2016 | Another lightning bolt
We confirm the continuation of Project Lightning, promising ultrafast internet to under-served business parks and office blocks.
October 2016 | Disruption in London
We record a #VOOM podcast at the Virgin Disruptors event, an open one-day conference with speakers including Richard Branson, Dr Andy Walshe from Red Bull and Solly Solomou from TheLadBible. Listen to the podcast to get the lowdown.
December 2016 | Businesses with one thing in common
We create the inaugural ‘Disruptor 10’ list, published in The Sunday Times and in association with Fast Track 100. It finds the 10 most disruptive companies in the UK, including a brewery, a green energy company and a currency transfer platform. See the full list here
May 2017 | Up to 350Mbps as standard
We launch a new business broadband product, Voom Fibre, which offers up to 350Mbps download speed as standard, along with a range of additional options.
May 2017 | #VOOM 2017
We unveil #VOOM 2017. With the Voom Tour, (a business networking and advice roadshow) and Voom Pitch (a competition offering a share of £1million), #VOOM 2017 is bigger and better than ever before.