Virgin Media O2 is giving small businesses a broadband speed boost to help them recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a rough year for most businesses, Virgin Media and O2 received some rare good news in May when the Competition and Markets Authority cleared a £31 billion merger between the industry giants.
Virgin Media O2 is now helping small businesses that likely didn’t have such good fortunes over the past year by boosting the upload speeds of customers using its Voom Fibre broadband services.
To help ensure business continuity during the pandemic, many businesses increased their digitalisation over the past year to support things such as increased remote working.
Research conducted during the pandemic found that over two-thirds of SMEs reported a decline in their revenues. Almost half reported adapting or pivoting their business model and embracing new technology in response.
Many of these efficiency improvements will continue even as some return to the office. In fact, three-quarters of SMEs believe the changes made during the pandemic will become permanent. Upload speeds have therefore become increasingly vital as more files are shared between colleagues, customers, and external partners.
Jo Bertram, Managing Director of Business & Wholesale at Virgin Media O2, said:
“We’re supercharging business broadband with a completely free upgrade that will help SMEs bounce back from the pandemic.
After a very challenging year, connectivity has been core to survival for many small businesses, with most uploading and downloading more than ever before.
As part of our mission to upgrade the UK we want to help get our nation’s entrepreneurs back on their feet, starting with a free digital boost.”
Voom Fibre packages start at 350Mbps download and currently peak at 500Mbps on Voom 500. Following the upgrade, upload speeds will start at 20Mbps and reach speeds of 50Mbps on the Voom 500 package.
Virgin Media is already making use of its merger with O2 to offer a 4G backup service to its packages (for additional cost). If there’s any disruption to the fixed broadband service, the router will automatically switch to unlimited 4G until the problem is sorted. Such hybrid solutions are becoming increasingly popular with both BT and Vodafone launching similar services in the past year.
(Photo by Mike Kiev on Unsplash)
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