Virgin Mobile customers begin move to O2 Plans

[Martin-O2]

Hi everyone, 

Virgin Media O2 will be giving millions of its customers more data and extra benefits this year as it begins moving all Virgin Mobile customers over to O2’s range of plans.

From February, the company will start sending communications to the first group of Virgin Mobile customers to let them know that their current service will transfer over to a new O2 plan. As part of this migration, millions of customers will receive unlimited texts and voice calls, and either double the data or unlimited data for the same amount each month – no customers will see the cost of their plan rise as a result of this move. This will be alongside access to Priority from O2 and other O2 benefits such as extra roaming destinations and continued inclusive EU roaming, something not offered to all customers by any other major mobile network.

The move will occur seamlessly and over the air for the vast majority of customers with no need to replace SIMs, port phone numbers or change billing dates or information. Exact details of the changes and steps will be outlined clearly to individual customers at least 30 days ahead of their migration taking place. Migrations will occur throughout the year, and by the end of 2023 all existing and newly joined Virgin Mobile customers will have been moved to O2 plans.

This represents a key pillar in Virgin Media O2’s integration, with the first stage of this plan completed at the end of last year when the entire Virgin Mobile base transferred over to using the O2 network – so all data, voice and text traffic is already using the company’s connectivity. This latest stage now marks the moment when customer plans start moving over to O2.

Virgin Mobile will continue to offer flexible handset contracts and 30-day rolling SIM only plans this year, with a variety of options under consideration regarding the use of the Virgin Mobile brand in future.

Gareth Turpin, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Media O2 said: “This is a major milestone moment for Virgin Media O2 as our Virgin Mobile customers start moving over to O2 plans, receiving added value and benefits on top. Our teams will guide customers through every step of the migration, and we’re laser focused on making sure this all occurs in the most hassle-free way possible. With all of our mobile brands now powered by the award-winning O2 network, we are making fantastic progress in our integration plans while continuing to deliver a range of knockout mobile services that cater for all needs.”

Virgin Media and O2 merged in June 2021 creating the UK’s largest telecoms challenger with award-winning mobile services and the fastest widely available broadband in the market all under one roof.

O2 provides 4G services to 99% of the UK and 5G services to more than 800 towns and cities with a plan to cover 50% of the UK population with 5G this year. It also stands alone as the only major mobile network to not reintroduce EU roaming fees and, since the app launched, has provided more than £200 million of savings to customers through Priority from O2 which offer customers exclusive access to rewards, unique experiences and daily perks, as well as Priority Tickets for thousands of gigs and events across the UK.

[Enlli]

Nice one came up on the Virgin Forum.

What happens if people are abroad when their change takes place? 

Technically it should be a background change, but such changes in the past have gone belly up.

I can see such customers contacting Virgin who will probably just pass the buck onto O2, leaving the customer even more confused than normal in such situations 

[Cleoriff]

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@Enlli wrote:

Nice one came up on the Virgin Forum.

What happens if people are abroad when their change takes place? 

Technically it should be a background change, but such changes in the past have gone belly up.

I can see such customers contacting Virgin who will probably just pass the buck onto O2, leaving the customer even more confused than normal in such situations 

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Yes, certainly all sorts of implications for that scenario @Enlli. If out of Europe, they wont suddenly go onto O2 Travel Inclusive (mid holiday) and O2 Travel needs to be requested before you go away. If travelling in Europe, will their plan turn to 'free Travel'? I can't see that happening really. 🙄

[madasaf1sh]

So many unanswered questions still and possible issues, and not just on this but on the whole Volt especially as now a lot more people are coming up to the end of there contract and will be renegotiating.

But on the move to o2 plans

People who are abroad should be fine, we do these changes all the time to our EU / Asian colleagues, when they request changes to their o2 allowances and capabilities (we issue UK sims to our EU colleagues)…

I think the bigger problem will be roaming costs as there may be issues with charging for a period.. 

The bigger problem is support, and will they call 202 or 789 from the phone, and will Virgin have updated the IVR in time... 

But I can see it not been too bad... 

Bigger issues will come with those on Oomph free unlimited sims... but that's for another thread....