Virgin mobile returning? Also possible O2 broadband

[newapollo]

There are a number of articles surfacing today that are suggesting (although nothing confimed by VMO2) that Virgin Mobile may be making a comeback and that O2 broadband may be introduced.

The Daily Bun

https://tech-insider.org/virgin-medi...relaunch-2026/

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.ph...broadband.html

https://www.thetimes.com/business/co...bile-m6t2gfrp3 (paywall)

It’s possible VMO2 may also introduce O2 TV as part of nexfibre and/or O2/giffgaff infrastructure at some point in the future.

O2TV was filed for trademark on 10th January 2025 and registered on 4th April 2025 (due to expire 10th january 2035. https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tm.../UK00004146222

There was also a Times article (June 7th 2025) suggesting that VMO2 were considering launching a streaming TV service.

https://archive.ph/2025.06.07-222125...2-198c275de184

[Mr K]

What they really need to launch is a Community Support Forum.

[Jaymoss]

Imagine how many customers they would gain if they charged a reasonable fee that does not increase in contract and then does not go up stupid amounts so you do not have to call every 2 years

I didnt know it had ever gone away, not really paid much notice since the family all moved off it to Sky a few yers ago.

[Pierre]

I don’t think so. There was talk of it earlier in the year.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.ph...bre-plans.html

And I personally saw plans of it, O2 broadband was being lined up to be a “premium” product.

However, since then we’ve had a new Consumer CEO join, and she seems to be of the mind that VMO2 has three strong brands that should really stay in their lane

VM, O2 & Giff Gaff.

And be the best that they can be. VM-fixed line, O2-mobile and giffgaff-budget.

Each brand within VMO2 has now been appointed its own Chief Consumer Officer, to work to each brand’s strengths.

It’s early days and the question of a returning Virgin Mobile was raised, but where would it fit in?

It would just be O2 rebadged, but we already have that with giffgaff.

I don’t see it happening.

[Dingbat]

What a coincidence. BT was going to fully rebrand all its consumer offerings to EE. A change of CEO saw a turnaround and BT Mobile and BT Broadband returned to sit alongside Plusnet and EE.

[Pierre]

Well, I was wrong. I don’t know about Virgin Mobile but O2 Broadband is coming.

[gunner45]

At first glance, reports that VMO2 is considering resurrecting Virgin Mobile look odd. VMO2's existing budget brand is giffgaff (owned by O2), which costs little to run - being no-frills, community-moderated, and built around a SIM-only identity where plans are rolling and contract-free (and any phone financing is handled separately via Klarna rather than traditional bundled handset contracts). I'm very familiar with giffgaff, having been a customer for several years, and it works well.

However, what works far less well is when Virgin Media and O2 - operating as a 50:50 joint venture - try to market their services together. Volt is awkward: take Virgin Media broadband, TV, and landline, and they add O2 mobile benefits on top. There is no getting around the fact that Volt is essentially a marketing wrapper stitched over two entirely separate corporate billing systems and customer databases. Relaunching Virgin Mobile as a sub-brand would actually be quite cheap. O2 already handles SIM distribution, Virgin Media's billing system, which I believe to have been recently rewritten, should be able to accommodate a mobile tier, and VMO2's call centres are already set up for it, having simplified team structures and cross-trained roughly 5,000 existing staff to handle broadband, TV, landline, and mobile enquiries in a single call in 2025.

That points to the real rationale for resurrecting Virgin Mobile as a sub-brand: bundling it directly with Virgin Media's broadband, Pay TV, and VoIP on 24-month contracts with none of the awkwardness of Volt, giving customers a single bill for the lot. Positioned as a retention tool to keep valuable broadband and Pay TV households, it wouldn't need O2 Priority perks, uncapped 5G speeds, or flagship handset subsidies. And fenced off as a broadband bundle add-on, it shouldn't cannibalise either premium O2 or standalone giffgaff (which serves an entirely different, unbundled market).

On reflection, there's a lot to like about the proposal.

[Pierre]

O2 broadband will be offered as a “budget” product, across the fibre network, OpenReach (that’s the recent headlines) and eventually on the HFC.

Virgin Media will be the premium broadband offering, and if VM mobile is resurrected it’ll be vice-versa.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by Pierre

O2 broadband will be offered as a “budget” product, across the fibre network, OpenReach (that’s the recent headlines) and eventually on the HFC.

Virgin Media will be the premium broadband offering, and if VM mobile is resurrected it’ll be vice-versa.

Good grief virgin media the premium brand what is marketing think of

[gunner45]

I'd now like to comment on O2 providing a fixed broadband service. Well, O2's subsidiary giffgaff already does this by buying wholesale access over nexfibre's XGS-PON via VMO2's fixed network unit (which manages both VM's own DOCSIS/XGS-PON footprint and nexfibre's XGS-PON), so the feasibility must be there for O2 to buy wholesale from the fixed network unit as well. Just as VM can bundle Virgin Mobile with its offerings, O2 can bundle VM's broadband with its mobile.

However you have to consider if it will cannibalise VM's broadband. The risk is there but can be much lessened as it would likely be positioned as a lean, data-utility add-on - simple, unbundled, streamlined broadband designed purely to complement a mobile account (much like EE’s mobile-first broadband positioning before it absorbed BT Consumer). It wouldn't pitch heavy TV packages; it would just offer clean connectivity billed straight to the My O2 account.