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Quad-player’s upgraded mobile service enables customers to carry over unused data to next billing cycle.
Virgin Media UK marked the launch of its 4G service on Monday by offering zero-rated access to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
It means customers can send messages, pictures and videos using the popular OTT services without it counting against their data allowance.
Virgin Media, which offers mobile services in the U.K. as an MVNO hosted by EE’s network, has also introduced ‘Data Rollover’, which lets customers carry forward any unused mobile data at the end of the month to next month’s billing cycle.
"By offering free messaging on WhatsApp and [Facebook] Messenger we’re making sure that Virgin Media customers never have to worry about messaging friends or family, and if there’s data left over at the end of the month then we’ve got that covered too," said Peter Kelly, managing director of mobile at Virgin Media UK, in a statement.
By zero-rating WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Virgin Media will surely attract the attention of Ofcom and the European Commission, following the adoption earlier this year of new EU-wide net neutrality rules. The legislation demands close scrutiny of zero-rated services.
Specifically, regulators are advised to review the market strength of the service(s) being zero-rated, and the market strength of the service provider doing the zero-rating, and consider the potential impact on competition and end-user choice.
In this case, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are hugely-popular, which could set alarm bells ringing at Ofcom because by zero-rating them, Virgin Media’s mobile customers are dissuaded from using smaller alternatives.
On the other hand though, Virgin Media is a relatively small player in the U.K. mobile market. The company’s combined mobile customer base across the U.K. and Ireland reached 3 million at the end of September. By comparison, by the same date, EE parent BT, which also operates an MVNO service called BT Mobile, had 30.2 million mobile customers in the U.K. alone.
Were BT to follow Virgin Media’s example and begin zero-rating WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, the chances of regulatory intervention would be considerably higher.
Virgin Media’s 4G prices start at £6 (€6.73) per month for a rolling 30-day, SIM-only contract that comes with 300 MB, 300 minutes, and unlimited texts. Customers also get access to Virgin Media’s footprint of 250,000 public WiFi hotspots.
Virgin Media is also offering ‘Freestyle’ contracts: 24-month plans that split out the service payments from the device payments.
With a Freestyle plan, customers can pay off their handset early so they can upgrade to a new device. Customers can also take advantage of Virgin Media’s recently-launched ‘Trade Up’ scheme to use the value of their current handset to reduce the price of a brand new one.
