By Jonathan Easton

Virgin Media O2 has recorded its best quarter for growth since the operator was formed as a merger of Liberty Global and Telefonica.

Announced as a part of Liberty Global’s Q1 earnings, Virgin Media O2’s Project Lightning fibre build-out plan added 101,000 new premises in Q1 to take its total footprint to 2.8 million homes, with a target of over 500,000 new premises in 2022.

In total, Virgin Media O2’s total fixed-customer base stands at 5.8 million, down 8,000. Its broadband base was broadly flat, while the mobile business added 478,000 subscribers for a total of 33 million mobile connections.

Virgin’s Q1 transaction adjusted EBITDA increased 2.6 per cent YoY to £931.7 million(US$1.14billion), excluding £10.4 million of opex CTC. The operator said that this represented the best full quarter growth rate since Virgin Media O2 was formed.

CEO of Virgin Media O2, Lutz Schüler said: “The first quarter has seen us remain focused on delivering and innovating to pave the way for the rest of the year. We have started to ramp up network investments while improving our products and services with big challenger decisions like not reintroducing EU roaming fees. The delivery of fixed and mobile price rises will also support revenue growth and allow continued investment as connectivity demand continues to increase.

“We’re pushing ahead into Q2 with the launch of Stream, our new IP-based TV proposition which evolves traditional TV bundles and offers our broadband customers a flexible and innovative way to get their entertainment whilst offering significant additional value. With Q1 showing solid financial foundations from a stabilising top line and improved profitability, we remain on track to meet our 2022 guidance.”