[HDFootyMan]

Good morning NTL Telewest Customers.

There are....

FOUR DAYS TO VIRGINERCATION!!!


Good report at the Independent (http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2214748.ece)

....the launch party on Thursday at a venue in London's West End will inevitably involve dozens of scantily clad models and a plethora of celebrities (Al Gore and Kill Bill star Uma Thurman are among those expected to be in attendance). Sir Richard will no doubt make a grand entrance by parachute and grab the nearest of the aforementioned models to ensure the newspapers get a good picture for the morning editions.

...James Kydd, managing director of marketing for Virgin Media, says the cable group has left its network problems behind. "If Virgin Media was just about putting a lick of paint on the old NTL," he explains, "then we would have launched the new company last July.

"Since the acquisition [of Virgin Mobile by NTL], everything has changed," he continues. "The billing system has been overhauled, which will enable our customer service representatives to do their jobs properly.

"Historically, the old NTL was all about making acquisitions. Spending on everything else was frozen. We have spent nine months changing that"

Mr Kydd adds that it is the little things, as well as big operational changes, that have been addressed.

"One of the first things we did was to make sure all the call centre staff had chairs that weren't ripped. An awful lot of effort has gone into making sure the basic things have been sorted.

"And we have spent £5m on making sure there are enough staff to answer phones. Previously, the view was that it didn't matter if it took 30 minutes for a customer to get through."

As well as the improvements to the call centres, Virgin Media will this week launch a raft of new services, including at least one new channel. A new digital video recorder called V+, compatible with high-definition, will be introduced that will have greater memory than Sky's equivalent Sky+ box.

And there is also the prospect of a new "BBC on demand" channel for Virgin Media. The BBC Trust has given its provisional approval for the roll out of the BBC iPlayer, which will enable consumers to download any programme broadcast in the preceding weeks. Mr Kydd confirms that Virgin Media is holding talks with the corporation to discuss whether the iPlayer technology could be incorporated to create a new channel on cable.

Eh? New Beeb 'On Demand' channel? Sounds kinda exciting....but....we already have Beeb content on Demand via VOD. Not sure what their on about here.


-----------------------------

And from The Scotsman (http://business.scotsman.com/technology.cfm?id=183562007):

...
The group is expected this year to increase its national coverage from the current level of 55% by buying bandwidth from BT's national network. This will allow Virgin Media to offer broadband and TV services in parts of the country where it currently has no customers due to technical constraints.

Longer term, Branson and NTL's management team hope NTL's five million residential customers will ditch mobile phone contracts with the likes of Vodafone and Orange and sign up with Virgin Mobile. At the same time, the plan is for Virgin Mobile's 4.3 million users to subscribe to Virgin Media's cable, phone and broadband products as "quad-play" moves from being a dream to a reality. NTL launched the "quad-play" bundle in September at £40 a month, but prices are expected to fall.

Analysts say that behind this week's launch is the belief that the ever-popular Virgin brand will add some much-needed glamour to NTL, which has earned a reputation for poor customer service. Ian Watt, analyst at Enders Analysis, believes the "Branson-effect" will benefit NTL but is unsure that there is substantial demand for "quad-play".