Virgin Media 'overwhelmed' by broadband customers fleeing BT

Hundreds of people who have recently signed up to Virgin Media UK’s ADSL broadband service face lengthy delays getting their accounts activated. The company has blamed a sudden spike in demand for its relaunched ADSL package, which is intended for would-be customers who live outside of the operator’s cable coverage and want to bundle their broadband and phone lines together. At the beginning of August Virgin made lots of noise about its new all-singing-all-dancing ADSL broadband service packages, that boosted faster download speeds of up to 20Mbps and its own telephone line rental. All of which offered an attractive proposition to customers wanting a simple, BT-free life that involved having a single bill with one telecoms supplier. But here’s the rub: A spokesman at the cable giant told us it had been inundated with customers fleeing BT and running headlong into Virgin’s increasingly burdened arms. “Since we relaunched our National service with line rental and our Best Speed Promise, we have been overwhelmed with new orders, resulting in a few delays in getting customers on to our superfast ADSL broadband,” the spokesman told The Register. He also confessed that the company has been struggling to post out modem kit to its new punters.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/28/virgin_media_adsl_broadband_delays/