The mobile division of cable broadband, TV and phone provider Virgin Media – Virgin Mobile – appears to have started the live launch of their new ultrafast 5G based data services, albeit initially only using their new Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) platform from Vodafone rather than O2.
Just to recap. At the end of 2019 Virgin Media signed a 5-year deal with Vodafone to run their MVNO platform, which effectively ended their long-running relationship with BT / EE (here). Under the plan Virgin Mobile’s services – covering c.3 million customers – would start to transition to Vodafone’s network from the end of 2021, although the operator revealed that they would launch 5G services via Vodafone ahead of that transition date.
Suffice to say that this plan was initially cast into a cloud of uncertainty after last year’s announcement of Virgin Media and O2’s (Telefonica UK) plan to merge, which came only a few months after the Vodafone deal and is currently expected to be signed off by mid-2021 (here). However, VM later confirmed that the agreement with Vodafone would continue, which could make for a longer future transition on to O2, but that’s another story.
Fast forward to today and VM has recently updated their 5G Mobile page to state that the new service is now live in parts of “100 towns and cities” (these are of course Vodafone’s network locations, rather than EE’s). By the looks of it the 5G SIM-Only plans are identical to their equivalent 4G options. We’ve pasted a few examples below (all include unlimited calls, texts and a 24-month contract term, but shorter terms and other plans do exist).
Naturally, in order to benefit from faster 5G speeds you’ll also need a supporting Smartphone, although if you don’t already own one then Virgin Mobile do have a selection of those on offer as part of a bundle. For new customers this should all be easy enough as you’ll find yourself on the Vodafone powered MVNO platform for 4G and 5G.
However, in terms of existing customers, VM states: “If you’ve already got an eligible mobile plan with us, we’ll upgrade you to 5G at no extra cost, as soon as it’s available.” We suspect the “eligible” wording may also relate to VM’s EE based 4G customers that have yet to be transitioned to the new Vodafone platform.