Virgin Media Business shakes up wholesale connectivity market with flexible anytime cancellation as standard

• Virgin Media Business to transform wholesale contract model offering anytime cancellation as standard for managed ethernet, internet access and high capacity services
• New commercial strategy will see excess construction charges abolished, with pricing refreshed and benchmarked against acquisition prices to give customers value for life
• Channel partners, network aggregators, systems integrators, resellers and carriers set to benefit from new flexible contracts

Virgin Media Business is set to transform the wholesale connectivity market by enabling partners to take wholesale ethernet, Dedicated Internet Access (leased line) and High Capacity Services (HCS) on a cancel anytime, flexible contract.

The step-change will, for the first time, provide partners with flexible access to wholesale business connectivity on Virgin Media’s carrier-grade national network. The radical new contracting model will also see the operator remove excess construction charges, helping partners reduce capital expenditure and manage cashflow with no upfront costs. The vast majority of installation charges will also be removed, meaning most circuits can be booked with nothing to pay upfront.

Guaranteed best pricing

To support its partners, Virgin Media Business is offering flexible contracts and refreshing its pricing to offer rates equivalent to today’s most competitive multi-year contracts. The cancel anytime ethernet, leased line and HCS contracts will be benchmarked, with prices automatically adjusted in line with the latest acquisition pricing. This will give partners confidence they are consistently receiving the best priced circuits, without ever having to renegotiate.

The changes, which will go live in June, have been introduced in response to customer requests for more flexibility after an uncertain year. The new contracts will provide partners with the agility they need to support customers transitioning to hybrid working, helping them to launch new operations while minimising risk, and enabling them to quickly develop new, competitive customer propositions.

Mike Hallam, Executive Director of Wholesale at Virgin Media Business, said: “We’re ripping up the rulebook to give our customers flexibility and the best prices guaranteed.

“We’re stepping up for our partners with this radical shift so they have the confidence, cashflow and commercial agility they need to help their customers bounce back stronger than ever.”

Virgin Media owns and operates the UK’s second largest network offering nationwide connectivity to the vast majority of UK businesses and works with around 600 wholesale partners to serve UK businesses and public sector organisations. As the second largest ethernet carrier in the UK, the company’s wholly owned and resilient network hosts 84% of Ethernet services entirely on their own network, connects hundreds of data centres and points of presence and carries over 35% of the country’s broadband traffic.