5 April 2006
Telecom company ntl's acquisition of mobile phone operator Virgin Mobile will be good news for consumers as the new company will provide competition to Sky and BT, according to uSwitch.com.
Customers are set to benefit from increased competition in the so-called 'quadruple play' market, in which companies offer fixed line, broadband, mobile and digital TV services.
Coming after ntl's purchase of Telewest, the switching and comparison website said that the new company will have 9.5 million customers.
The new firm will have 4.3 million fixed line customers, 4.3 million mobile customers, 3.3 million TV customers and 2.8 million broadband customers. This means it will be a "serious threat" to Sky and BT in the future quadruple play market, according to uSwitch.com.
Chris Williams, home phone product manager at uSwitch.com, said: "This is good news for consumers because more competitive deals will be offered from suppliers bundling their products together.
"The new service will encourage other providers to vie for this new competitive platform through acquisitions and business expansion. Consumers will undoubtedly benefit from this increase in competition both from a content and price perspective."
He added that the merger offered a real opportunity for ntl.
"We know from the results of the uSwitch.com Home Phone Customer Satisfaction Report last November that ntl has a poor track record in customer service, and they will need to use this acquisition as a platform to make the necessary improvements and ensure a quality service for their customers in all areas," he added.
"One positive step towards doing this will be the opportunity to re-brand under the popular and trusted household name of Virgin."
Switch your phone line supplier with uSwitch.com and save on your phone bill. You keep your existing number and line. Compare your supplier today
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
Content for the uSwitch.com market news service is provided by a third party, Adfero Ltd. Whilst uSwitch.com makes reasonable efforts to check the reliability of this content, uSwitch.com does not guarantee the accuracy thereof or endorse the views or opinions given by Adfero Ltd, unless expressly stated otherwise.