ALL Virgin / NTL merger discussion

my wall plates still say 'Diamond Cable'

[MovedGoalPosts]

I've still got a Nynex branded box on the outside of the house. It was only when NTL decided to replace my PACE STB that I got rid of Cable & Wireless. Even months after ntl swallowed cable & wireless a replacement STB was issued branded C&W

The cost of rebranding stuff that is out and about won't be worth ntl / telewest / virgin's effort.

[paul11974]

Originally Posted by Rob C

I've still got a Nynex branded box on the outside of the house. It was only when NTL decided to replace my PACE STB that I got rid of Cable & Wireless. Even months after ntl swallowed cable & wireless a replacement STB was issued branded C&W

The cost of rebranding stuff that is out and about won't be worth ntl / telewest / virgin's effort.

good point i still have the nynex box but can you imagine when your sky friends come around they will say do u have nynex cable & wireless ntl or virgin tv very very mickey mouse

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by paul11974

but thats just all wrong

Not really. They would need to spend an awful lot of money replacing the boxes and remotes as Stickers would just fall off.

If they used Stickers, it would look look worse than having the wrong logos.

[Neil]

Isn't the buyout of Virgin Mobile though?

What's that got to do with DTV?

[Derek]

Originally Posted by paul11974

good point i still have the nynex box but can you imagine when your sky friends come around they will say do u have nynex cable & wireless ntl or virgin tv very very mickey mouse

Ntl/Telewest probably have 2mil or so broadband customers. If the modems cost about £20.00 a pop (rough guess) how much would it cost to replace them all without even factoring in the costs of installing/dispatching them.

It would be the same again for STB's. They could continue to use the Ntl/Telewest branded ones that are refurbished or spend millions to ensure every customer gets a shiny new one.

Generally speaking on the TV if/when if changes to Virgin Cable or whatever I'm sure the EPG will be updated so your mates will see who you have whenever you change a channel.

[Millay]

ive got, nynex C&W and NTL, logos kicking round on different wall sockets etc.. im looking forward to having another logo to add to the collection...

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Neil

Isn't the buyout of Virgin Mobile though?

What's that got to do with DTV?

Sometime in 2007 the whole company is going to be rebranded as Virgin. Its part of the deal they get to use the Virgin name for a long time and pay some money to Branson each year from the profits.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Originally Posted by DarthYoda

Sometime in 2007 the whole company is going to be rebranded as Virgin. Its part of the deal they get to use the Virgin name for a long time and pay some money to Branson each year from the profits.

The Virgin Brand has a meaning in the mobile phone market but not in the DTV market. Why would they use the virgin brand in the DTV market?

I really can't see a good reason for this to be seperate from the main thread.

ntl/virgin are not going to do anything about existing units with ntl/tw/whatever on them - there's just no reason to waste money on any such exercise, and this topic is now just turning into another virgin discussion. It will be merged soon.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

The Virgin Brand has a meaning in the mobile phone market but not in the DTV market. Why would they use the virgin brand in the DTV market?

They are going to have to change either one or both of the names they currently use.

Virgin have a good name with customers for service and value so they might as well call their cable service Virgin cable or something similar.

[Stephen]

its simply because Virgin is a better name in terms of cust service, and its really well known. They might as well have 1 name for the whole company as they will be offering the 4 services.

[paul11974]

well im sure there must be some ex on digital customers that got the itv digital stickers in the post ....... i can remember them like it was yesterday

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Originally Posted by dezzo

They are going to have to change either one or both of the names they currently use.

No they dont, there are 1000's of companies that maintain several brands. They use the strongest brand for that particular product (well they do if they have any sense)

Can you imagine for example Hoover buying Virgin mobile and then rebranding the vacuming business as Virgin?? People have for years said "i'm going to do the hoovering" priceless branding there. The phrase "i'm going to do the Virgining" just doesnt quite work

Originally Posted by dezzo

Virgin have a good name with customers for service and value so they might as well call their cable service Virgin cable or something similar.

I dont think Virgin have that good a name for customer service. Virgin dialup??

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

No they dont, there are 1000's of companies that maintain several brands. They use the strongest brand for that particular product (well they do if they have any sense)

But very few have directly competing products. If Ntl/Telewest get their act together on the LLU offerings they were making noises about then they would be competing directly against each other.
As it is we will see Telewests and Ntl's offerings to on-net customers get closer to each others packages it would be stupidity to keep them as separate entities.

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

I dont think Virgin have that good a name for customer service. Virgin dialup??

Who do you think runs Virgin Dialup? I'll give you a clue. It isn't Virgin, they flogged it to another company a few years back, a company with the letters n, l and t in their name.