British cable subscribers are getting a taste of American bill shock, courtesy of another dramatic rate hike from cable giant Virgin Media, now owned and operated by John Malone’s Liberty Broadband.
Virgin announced it will hike rates for a 13 TV channel and broadband package by $44.50 a month starting in August. Customers used to pay $8.92 a month for the package, or $51.89 for the year. Next month, they will pay $53.51 for the first month and $77.84 each month thereafter.
If you can afford the VIP Bundle, which includes 97 TV channels, you will also pay more next month. Virgin charges $137.84 a month today for the package. Next month, the same package will cost about $146 a month for the first year, increasing to $195 a month after that. Broad rate increases will also impact students on nine-month discount contracts, generally around $5 more a month.
Last August, Virgin jacked rates up quite a bit as well — $68.11 a year for those with a broadband and phone or “big bundle” package and just under $58 a year for those with broadband-only service.
“Nobody likes a price rise, and we understand this,” Virgin Media always writes on its website in response to rate increases. “That’s why we’re always looking to bring you the best Virgin Media experience.”
It seems Virgin is determined to get those in the United Kingdom experienced with American-style cable bills.
Sure, “The best Virgin Experience”. Looks like the Brits just lost their “virginity”. Smaller countries should just nationalize the internet services, run their own fiber, hire a maintenance crew and just be done with this permanently. And once you’ve gone that far, it would be a small step to install cell / wifi towers and offer phone (wifi voip or traditional cell).. for nothing more than maintenance cost. It would be worth it just to starve out every ISP and phone carrier in the country. Let them go try that somewhere else.
Wow, only a 800 percent increase for a service that must have turned a profit, Martin Shkreli would be embarrassed he raised his prices 5000 percent.