Short answers, pulled from the story.
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company providing telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2007, launching publicly on the 8th of February 2007, formed from the merger of NTL and Telewest and the acquisition of Virgin Mobile.
Virgin Media is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica. The joint venture was completed on the 1st of June 2021. Virgin Media uses the Virgin brand under licence from Richard Branson.
As of year end 2024, Virgin Media had approximately 5.8 million customers. Its network reaches over 18.4 million homes across the UK.
Liberty Global agreed to acquire Virgin Media for approximately US$23.3 billion, or £15 billion, in a stock and cash merger. The deal was announced on the 5th of February 2013 and completed on the 7th of June 2013.
Ofcom fined Virgin Media £23.8 million in December 2025 for failing to protect vulnerable customers during its transition from analogue to digital telephone services in late 2023. Customers who relied on personal telecare alarms were left without functioning devices for significant periods. The fine was the third largest Ofcom had ever imposed on a communications provider.
Virgin Media and Sky failed to agree new carriage terms before the 1st of March 2007, leading Virgin to remove Sky channels including Sky1, Sky2, Sky News and Sky Sports News. Virgin Media filed a legal case against BSkyB in the High Court on the 12th of April 2007. The dispute was resolved on the 4th of November 2008, when the two companies agreed to restore Sky's basic channels to Virgin Media under a deal with fixed annual carriage fees of £30 million.