14 May 2007
Thursday sees the announcement of BT's full-year results and telecommunications analysts are predicting that it will regain its title of biggest broadband provider from Virgin Media.
When ntl and Telewest merged last year the telecommunications company experienced a high uptake of its broadband package, making it the largest provider on the market in March 2006. Its rebranding exercise which saw it become Virgin Media in February of this year was expected to entice more customers over.
However, its continual content spats with BSkyB may have cost the provider its place with Mark Main, a senior analyst at telecoms researcher Ovum, telling the Telegraph that "programming problems" with Sky had caused customers to switch.
Last year's figures showed that while Virgin Media attracted 217,500 broadband customers in the first three months of 2006, it could only manage a further 97,600 in the first quarter of this year.
Mr Main also said that the disappearance of smaller broadband providers like Bulldog was also likely to improve BT's standing, adding: "As the market consolidates people are looking to see which provider is going to be there moving forward and opting for the safety of an established brand."
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