Virgin has announced growth in overall broadband customers to 3,836,100.  However, while cable broadband customers have grown by 61,000 in 3 months, ADSL customers have dropped by 6,800.

These customers are referred to as off-net, because they receive their broadband through BT phone lines rather than through the Virgin cable network.  They are important to Virgin as they are an area for the company to grow, without the expense of digging up streets to expand the cable network.

Virgin is planning to offer cable customers a 50MB broadband connection by the end of 2008.

Source: Virgin Q2, 2008 quarerly hightlights

BT remain top of the table, growing broadband customer numbers to 4.5million.

First quarter to June 30, 2008

Carphone Warehouse now have 2.8 million customers, with 41,000 net adds in the quarter.

The AOL customer base, which Carphone Warehouse purchased, fell by 45,000 over the quarter caused apparently by a "lull in recruitment activity during the network migration exercise, and the loss of 12,000 customers that we were unable to migrate." The TalkTalk
broadband base grew by 86,000 during the quarter.

Thursday 31 July 2008 - Interim Management Statement

Sky have grown customer numbers by 200,000 in the last 3 months.  At 1,628,000 they are now about 250,000 behind Tiscali who are in fourth place.

We predict that with Sky's strong growth they could catch Tiscali by the time the next set of quarterly announcements are made.

Media reports still state that Tiscali is up for sale, the Times newspaper has reported that possible buyers include Vodafone, BSkyB and Virgin Media.  A merger of Sky and Tiscali would form the UK's third largest broadband provider.

Times article:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article4383131.ece
July 23, 2008 - Tiscali accuses BT of defamation

Main source: BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING GROUP PLC
Results for the twelve months ended 30 June 2008

"At 31 March 2008, our broadband base stood at 203,000 representing year
on year growth of 12.0 per cent."

KCOM GROUP PLC (KCOM.L) - PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF UNAUDITED RESULTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2008

O2 have reported growth of broadband numbers by 62,800 within three months, putting them within 9,000 customers of Kingston.

We predict that next time O2 announce figures they will leapfrog Kingston to 7th place in the league table.

That would still place them a long way behind the rest of the pack as sixth place orange have over 5 times the number of O2's 194,220 customers.

"There were a total of 1.063 million ADSL accesses at 30 June 2008, a 2.5% decline in relation to 30 June 2007. ADSL accesses sold unbundled from the telephone line were still up sharply, representing 40% of the total number of ADSL accesses at 30 June 2008 compared with 23% a year earlier, a 17 point improvement in one year."

2008 Interim Results

This shows that Orange's ADSL base is shrinking overall, but a higher proportion of their ADSL customers are now on Orange's own LLU network.

Orange has, along with other mobile providers, been touting broadband over its 3G mobile network - the figures from this are not included in this league table.

Virgin Media now has 3,701,200 residential customers as of 31 December 2007.  A significant 287,300 of these are "off-net" which means they are receiving their broadband from Virgin but through the standard telephone network.  The rest receive their broadband through Virgin's cable network.

No figures are avialable for business broadband customers.

Carphone warehouse have announced that they now have 2,713,000 broadband customers as of 31 March 2008.

Sky have announced their broadband figures are now up to 1,428,000.

This, combined with a recent lack of growth from Orange, means that Sky are now fifth.

They achieved growth of 229,000 within a quarter.  If they maintain this level of growth they could be looking to overtake Tiscali in about 6-9 months.

If Sky were to purchase Tiscali they would become the third biggest broadband provider and start to pose a serious threat to Virgin Media.  This would be an interesting match as Tiscali also have expertise in providing TV over broadband.

BT continue their growth in broadband customers by reaching 4.4million on 31 March 2008.

This does not include BT Wholesale and Openreach customers.

Back in April 2008 we reported "Tiscali breaks 2 million mark."

We based this on the following:
Previously Tiscali had 1,480,000 and Pipex had 570,000 broadband customers (total 2,050,000).

This seemed like a fair assumption at the time.

However, Tiscali are now announcing that they have 1,875,000 ADSL users in the UK as of 31 March 2008.  We have therefore adjusted the league table accordingly.

This still currently leaved Tiscali as fourth, but Orange and Sky are hot on their heals.

With Tiscali up for sale the shape of the league table could change substantially.

Back in April 2008 we reported "Orange's owners France Telecom have announced that broadband numbers have grown from 1,063,000 to 1,139,000.  They remain in fifth place in the league table."

Surprisingly, Orange are now announcing:
"The number of ADSL subscribers was 1.107 million at 31 March 2008, up 1.1% compared with 31 March 2007."

We will be adjusting the league table accordingly.  This will still leave Orange in fifth place but this lack of growth (and possible decline) could give Sky a good opportunity to overtake.

O2 are the newest addition to the league table, and increase the number of companies who are also involved in mobile phones (Orange, Carphone Warehouse, Virgin).

O2 have 131,420 broadband customers as of 31 March 2008 - this puts them in 8th place between Kingston and Thus.

11/10/2006 10:24:00

The acquisition of the Access business will give Carphone Warehouse an enlarged broadband customer base of approximately 2m customers, making it the third largest broadband provider in the UK.'

http://www.cpwplc.com/cpw/media/press/2006/2006-10-11/

09/11/2006 14:46:00

26/01/2007 13:51:00

The number quoted is a combined figure for Eclipse Internet and Karoo broadband services.

http://www.kcom.com/news/articles/news_28_11_06_01_3.pdf

26/01/2007 14:01:00

France Telecom (owners of Orange)

Paris, October 26, 2006

http://www.francetelecom.com/en/financials/journalists/press_releases/CP_old/att00039381/CAQ3-06eng.pdf

26/01/2007 14:57:00

Press Release date: 08 November 2006 ref: 61
NTL REPORTS THIRD QUARTER 2006 RESULTS AND ANNOUNCES REBRAND TO VIRGIN MEDIA

Made up of 2,980,400 on-net and 242,800 off-net customers.
On-net = 2,980,400 (Includes NTL and Telwest cable broadband users.)
Off-net = 242,800 (mostly ADSL users under virgin.net brand)

'We plan to use Virgin.net as the incubator for the development of a more aggressive off-net proposition. Building on the success of Virgin.net, we will be making a modest investment in our platform and product capability to deliver an off-net quad-play to complement our current cable business. This will leverage off our new national Virgin Media brand and marketing activities.'

07/09/2006 10:38:00

Agreement to acquire Toucan for £24m

'Following the acquisition of Toucan and Bulldog, Pipex now has a broadband and voice customer base of 1.14m of which over 570,000 take broadband.'

http://www.pipexgroup.com/pg.asp?p=1227

26/01/2007 14:05:00

26/01/2007 14:09:00

PlusNet: www.plus.net (Results 30/06/2006)

This report appears to have since been removed from the web, possibly due to the merger with BT.
http://www.plus.net/investors/downloads/PlusNet_2006_interim_results.pdf

26/01/2007 14:12:00

First Quarter Results 2006 Press Release

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/10/104016/pressrelease031106.pdf

26/01/2007 14:13:00

http://www.thus.co.uk/pdfs/tpr2006-06-19.pdf

26/01/2007 14:14:00

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/presscentre/press_release/2006/august/081206videonetworks.html

26/01/2007 14:47:00

Carphone Warehouse Third Quarter Trading Update

12/01/2007

'2.2m residential broadband customers with completion of AOL acquisition'

http://www.cpwplc.com/cpw/media/press/2007/2007-01-12/

11/02/2007 11:29:00

31 January 2007

01/02/2007 14:57:00

Paris, February 1, 2007

2006 preliminary unaudited annual results: France Telecom results and cash-flow generation slightly above objectives

http://www.francetelecom.com/en/financials/investors/news/CP_infos/cp070201.html
http://www.francetelecom.com/en/financials/journalists/press_releases/CP_old/att00039860/CP_FY06_Prelim_VA.pdf

08/02/2007 12:40:00

BT have today released figures showing they now have over 3.2million broadband customers. This is the retail figure, not including customers who purchase broadband through the BT network but sold by another company.

This means that NTL maintain their position at the top of the Broadband League having announced 3,223,200 broadband customers (including Telewest and Virgin.net) in November 2006 compared to BT's current 3,219,000 broadband customer base.

Sources:

Third quarter and nine months results to December 31, 2006

'Broadband revenue grew by 24 per cent to £233 million with BT Retail connections exceeding 3.2 million by the end of the quarter, an increase in connections of 239,000 in the quarter. BT Retail’s share of broadband net additions (DSL and LLU) in the fiercely competitive marketplace was 34 per cent in the quarter, the highest for over two years. Our share of the installed base was 32 per cent as at December 31, 2006.'

http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=69b9100f-b434-4130-b710-42f51fa535ed

KPIs
Business Broadband Customers 675,000
Residential Broadband Customers 2,544,000
Total Broadband (Incl. Major Corporates) 3,219,000

http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Quarterlyresults/Financialpresentations/q307KPIs.pdf

28/02/2007 11:52:00

Virgin Media now has opened up a further lead over BT at the top of the table with an announcement that it has 3,319,300 broadband customers.

In its first quarterly results since chaging its name from NTL/Telewest, Virgin's figures break down as 3,058,500 broadband cable customers (refered to as On-net) and 260,800 broadband ADSL customers (Off-net).

Cable customers will be able to receive 20Mb broadband connections from June, double the current top speed, according to the report and a residential trial of 50Mb broadband is currently taking place.

The Off-net customers use virgin.net which offers broadband and telephony services using BT Group’s wholesale products rather than using the cable network. This area is expected to represent a significan part of Virgin Media's growth: 'We are close to securing a wholesale local loop unbundling provider, which will enable us to launch new quad-play product propositions outside of our cable network with only modest capital investment.'

VIRGIN MEDIA REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER 2006 RESULTS

http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/13/135/135485/items/233391/FINALVM_Q406_PressRelease.pdf

14/05/2007 10:58:00

26/04/2007 12:55:00

Orange's owners France Telecom have announced that broadband numbers have grown from 1,063,000 to 1,139,000.  They remain in fifth place in the league table.

Financial information for first quarter 2007

http://www.francetelecom.com/en/financials/journalists/press_releases/CP_old/att00040340/CP1Q07VA.pdf

14/05/2007 12:59:00

Tiscali's broadband numbers have increased to 1.48 million in the UK, of which 437,000 are connected through Tiscali's own unbundled network.  Since purchasing Homechoice, TV services are a key potential area for growth:

'A further boost to growth is also expected from the launch of the IPTV offer, started on March 1st and expected to cover the whole Tiscali ULL network within 2008. The Tiscali television offer is proposed as a supplement to the access and voice broadband offers, allowing customers to choose premium content in addition to the basic package.'

Tiscali remain fourth in the Broadband League.

Tiscali Q1 2007 Results
http://investors.tiscali.com/tiscali/uploads/press/Tiscali_1Q2007_UK_final.pdf

17/05/2007 08:11:00

BT today announce that they have taken top slot in the Broadband League from Virgin, with more than 3.66 million broadband customers.

This is thanks to a 245,000 growth in customers and an addition of 195,000 customers gained through BT's acquisition of PlusNet.

Fourth quarter and full year ended March 31, 2006
http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=1466afab-128a-4182-bf5e-3912685a60c4

06/06/2007 14:47:41

Carphone Warehouse have announced their broadband numbers have grown from 2.2 million to 2.27 million.  This leaves them in third place with a clear lead over Tiscali but also still a long way behind Virgin Media who are in second place.

Carphone Warehouse's figures include the AOL's internet customer base in the UK, which Carphone Warehouse acquired during the last year and have retained as a seperate brand.

Following the resolution of initial unbundling problems, over 700,000 customers are now on Carphone Warehouse's own unbundled network.

Carphone Warehouse Group PLC
05 June 2007
http://www.cpwplc.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=123964&p=irol-rnsArticle&ID=1011084&highlight=

Note - this is an amended entry.  We previously published the incorrect figure of 2.72 million instead of 2.27million.  This mistake did not affect any league positions. Amended 26/07/07

13/07/2007 14:21:51

Sky has moved up one place to sixth byannouncing an increase of 259,000 broadband custoemrs, taking its total to 716,000.

This puts Sky above Pipex and closes the gap with Orange who are in fifth place.

In total the satellite television company has over 8.5million customers and is carrying out a fast local loop unbundling (LLU) programme as a platform for its broadband provision:  '1,150 exchanges are now unbundled, 70% coverage of UK households achieved six months ahead of plan.'

Trading Update for the three months to 30 June 2007
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/10/104016/11_07_07.pdf

13/07/2007 14:28:37

BT have announced their intention to purchase Brightview PLC.

Brightview currently has around 62,000 broadband customers under a number of brands including Madasafish, Global Internet and Waitrose ISP.

http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=c4165553-4b9f-4cb4-a56b-8cbe08756b8b

26/07/2007 08:46:59

BT maintain their lead over rivals Virgin Media with broadband customers at end of July 2007 reaching 3,835,000.  This is an increase of 175,000 in three months.

This does not include the customers of Brightview (approximately 62,000) who are being acquired by BT. 

Source: This information was supplied directly to www.special.co.uk from BT's press office.

26/07/2007 14:46:09

Carphone Warehouse remain in thid place having grown their broadband numbers to 2,397,000 up from 2,270,000.  Approximately 40%, or 966,000 customers, are on unbundled lines.

Carphone Warehouse's figures include the AOL's internet customer base in the UK, which Carphone Warehouse acquired during the last year and have retained as a seperate brand.

Carphone Warehouse - 1st Quarter Results
26/07/2007
http://www.cpwplc.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=123964&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=1031165&highlight=

13/08/2007 11:13:12

Virgin claims to be 'still the UK's largest residential broadband provider' following the release of figures showing they have 3.5 million residential broadband customers, up from 3,416,900.

However, this still leaves them second in this league, because BT have 3,835,000 business and residential broadband customers combined.

'Virgin Media now has 3.2 million cable broadband subscribers, which, together with 0.3 million off-net broadband subscribers, makes us the largest residential broadband provider in the UK.'

Virgin Media Reports Second Quarter 2007 Results

http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=205406&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1038015&highlight=

07/11/2007 10:25:28

Virgin Media today announced a growth in broadband numbers to 3,590,000.  This is only 90,000 higher than the figure shown on the league table previously and makes no great leap towards catching BT who remain first.

Virgin's broadband figure comprises 3,307,700 on the cable network (on-net) and 282,300 broadband users using Virgin's ADSL services through the BT phone network (off-net).

Carphone Warehouse remain a distant third.

Third Quarter 2007 Results
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/13/135485/quarterly/Q3_07_PressRelease.pdf

15/11/2007 11:45:12

Tiscali has announced that, following its purchase of Pipex's broadband business, it now supplies over 2 million broadband lines.  This means that Tiscali remains in fourth position in the league table, behind Carphone Waerhouse but ahead of Orange.  We are now removing Pipex from the league table as their numbers are now merged with Tiscali's.

Previously Tiscali had 1,480,000 and Pipex had 570,000 broadband customers (total 2,050,000)  which would suggest that Tiscali has not gained many new users organically but has instead been focusing on integrating its acquisions.

When Tisali previously purchased Video Networks it gained the Homechoice brand which was known in London and the South East for supplying IPTV services in these regions.  Tiscali has now integrated the Homechoice brand in to its own operations and offers a national IPTV service.  Tiscali now has 36,000 IPTV customers.

Tiscali has it's LLU kit in about 800 telephone exchanges in the UK.  Outside of the UK, Tiscali also has a strong presence in Italy but has disposed of many of its operations in other European countries.

the question now is whether Tiscali will gain more broadband customers organically, purchase another provider or focus on selling IPTV and other services to its existing customer base and cut costs by migrating more to its LLU network.

Tiscali 9M07 results
http://investors.tiscali.com/tiscali/uploads/press/pressrelease3Q07_ENG.pdf

15/11/2007 12:02:19

BT has announced: 'BT Retail has strengthened its position as the UK’s number one retail broadband provider and its total broadband customer base was 4,074,000 at September 30, 2007.'

This puts further distance between BT and Virgin in this league table, although Virgin's figures do not include its business customers unlike BT.

Earlier this year BT purchased Brightview PLC who operated ISPs Madasafish, Global Internet and Waitrose ISP.  As these BT figures appear to include Brightview's custoemrs, Brightview have now been removed from the league table.  Brightview had 62,000 broadband customers and was bottom of this league table.  The Global Internet brand has now dissappeared, becoming part of Madasafish.  The Waitrose ISP appears to still be in operation and, accoding to its website is 'one of the only internet providers in the UK to donate all our profits to charity.

Second quarter and half year results to September 30, 2007
http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=790b87ac-792a-4abc-ab24-9a7bef5620b7

Waitrose ISP
http://www.waitrose.com/internetaccessfromwaitrose/index.aspx

24/12/2007 14:19:01

The latest financial statement from satellite broadcaster Sky claims it is the UK's fastest growing broadband provider. Customer numbers increased to 939,000.

89% of threse customers are within the company's unbundled network.

UKOnline has a further 30,000 customers bringing the total to 969,000.

With customers sign ups now exceeding one million, the customer numbers in the next announcement may be fast approaching Orange.

Interim Management Statement and Results for the three months ended 30 September 2007
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/10/104016/ResultsRelease011107.pdf