Virgin Media offers vital connectivity to support the nation during lockdown
Virgin Media has introduced a series of measures to help keep its customers connected and entertained during the latest nationwide lockdown.
The operator is making a variety of pay TV channels and on-demand programming available for customers at no extra cost, and is also providing free mobile data to ensure families facing financial difficulties can get online so their children can take part in remote-learning.
Keeping the nation entertained
Virgin Media has a made a variety of factual pay TV channels available at no extra cost for Virgin TV customers. This includes Animal Planet HD, Crime+Investigation HD, Discovery Science, Eurosport 1 and 2 HD and Sky History*.
Customers with the Documentaries Personal Pick or Mix bundle can also tune into two additional channels: Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature. Sky Documentaries brings together world-class documentaries from award-winning film makers across a number of genres, while Sky Nature is dedicated to exploring the beauty and wonder of the natural world.
To help Virgin TV’s youngest viewers stay entertained, Virgin Media has extended free access to the Hopster app. Hopster is aimed at pre-schoolers and provides a safe, ad-free environment for youngsters to learn through the stories they love – featuring family-favourites such as Pingu and Sesame Street, as well as educational and world culture programmes.
Customers can also kick-start their 2021 fitness regime with Virgin Media’s Get Moving channel, fronted by two time British Olympic gold medallist, Daley Thompson CBE, as well as a number of elite personal trainers. Get Moving is on channel 997 and includes high-intensity interval training, yoga and PE sessions for children.
Lastly, customers can also workout with the ‘Get Fit Now’ app by Body in Balance which is offering a range of free fitness content for the next eight weeks, starting with ‘Yoga Groove’ this week. In the coming weeks, sessions including pilates and belly dance will be available, too.
Connectivity measures
Virgin Media is also helping families facing financial difficulties and vulnerable customers to stay connected and online.
20GB of data and zero rating for remote learning
As part of the Department for Education’s Get help with technology programme, Virgin Mobile is offering an additional 20GB of mobile data per month to ensure families that need it have the connectivity so their children can take part in online lessons and remote learning. The provider has also agreed to zero rate learning resources, with Oak National Academy the first to benefit. This will mean children can access the service without using any of their mobile data. Virgin Media’s broadband packages already provide connectivity with no data caps.
Helping vulnerable customers
In addition, Virgin Mobile is offering vulnerable customers who are on Pay As You Go contracts 500 minutes, 500 text messages and 1GB of extra data at no extra cost every month, while vulnerable customers on Pay Monthly contracts can receive unlimited minutes and 10GB of additional data every month. Both offers are available until the end of March.
Furthermore, Virgin Media’s Essential broadband services offers an affordable, reliable and hassle-free connection for customers who receive Universal Credit. The plan costs £15 per month for 15Mbps with no fixed-term contract length and no price changes while Universal Credit payments are being received. Customers can apply here.
Jeff Dodds, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Media, said:
“As we have done since the start of this pandemic, we want to support our customers during the difficult months that lie ahead. We know how important it is for people to have the connectivity to get online, as well as to stay entertained while spending more time at home.
“From offering free mobile data to support remote learning to providing a great line-up of pay TV channels at no extra cost, we’re pleased to be playing our part in helping our customers during this challenging time.”
