Virgin Media expands through Carphone Warehouse

Steve Weller, Head of Communications Services at uSwitch.com comments: “As of today, Carphone Warehouse is giving customers the option of signing up to Virgin Media’s full portfolio of services - broadband, digital TV, home phone and mobile - through its 783 high street stores. Having previously only offered broadband-hungry customers a choice between TalkTalk, AOL and Orange, this addition is welcome news and provides customers wishing to sign up to Virgin with another outlet to do so. Hopefully other retailers will follow suit to increase the range of offers available on the high street.

“However, despite Carphone Warehouse’s claim to now be offering impartial broadband advice, the company is only offering two home broadband services aside from their own – TalkTalk and AOL. There are a number of providers missing from Carphone’s portfolio, such as PlusNet which is currently at the top of our Customer Satisfaction poll; Orange and TalkTalk, on the other hand, hold the bottom two places.

“We fully support any move to both increase choice and offer impartial advice to consumers and hope that Carphone Warehouse continues its mission to increase the broadband services available within its stores. In the meantime, online comparison sites are still the best route to go down for consumers wishing to see the full range of services presented in a truly impartial format.”