Virgin Media Volt

Virgin Media Volt offers customers who take their broadband services faster download and upload speeds, as well as a whole home WiFi guarantee.

Volt bundles also come with an O2 mobile SIM, offering unlimited minutes and texts, and 10GB data each month.

Virgin Media's flagship Volt bundle, Mega Volt, includes 500Mb broadband speeds, an O2 SIM with unlimited data, and over 230 TV channels, including Sky Sports and Sky Cinema.

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At a glance

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What is Virgin Media O2 Volt?

Virgin Media Volt is a benefits package for customers who take both Virgin Media broadband and an O2 mobile plan. It was launched shortly after Virgin Media and O2 merged in 2021.

Virgin Media Volt now has over one million customers, making up 20% of Virgin Media's customer base.

Volt customers have faster broadband speeds on average than other Virgin Media customers, with average download speeds of 452Mb per second across all Volt customers, compared to 261Mb among non-Volt customers.

Volt can benefit both new and existing Virgin Media and O2 customers, with dedicated Volt packages offering both broadband and a mobile plan for new customers.

While existing customers can add Virgin Media broadband, or an O2 mobile SIM plan to their existing deals with either provider and gain the same Volt benefits.

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Who can benefit from Virgin Media Volt?

Customers looking to take a Virgin Media broadband deal are those best suited for Volt bundles, as that's the main element in the benefits package.

Often, Volt bundles will offer better value for money in comparison to non-Volt packages, as the broadband speed is boosted for less money than the next package up. With the additional mobile benefits this can really start to offer exceptional value for money for households.

Those looking at Volt will benefit most if they:

• Want Virgin Media broadband anyway, and are looking at faster speed tiers
• Have a larger home or find WiFi signals struggle to reach all rooms
• Already use O2 as a mobile network provider, and have good O2 signal in their area
• Live in a Virgin Media enabled area, which you can check here

For those who can get it, it's a great way to save money across multiple services, with savings on offer up to £810.

We worked out the monetary value of each benefit included in Virgin Media Volt and found customers can save around £810 over the length of the 18-month contract compared to taking these services separately.

To work out our benefits value we considered the roaming plan would be used for 14 days on average each 18 months. All the other benefits have clear monthly values, such as the WiFi Max guarantee which costs £8 per month for other Virgin broadband customers.

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Volt benefits

Volt is designed to encourage customers to take broadband or broadband and TV bundles from Virgin Media, alongside mobile services from O2.

Customers who do this get extra benefits included for free that would usually cost extra.

Volt broadband benefits include:

• Broadband speed boosted to the next level up at no extra cost (worth approximately £4 per month).
• WiFi Max guarantee, which offers up to three WiFi Pods to boost wireless signal around the home, with 30Mb in every room guaranteed or £100 bill credit (worth £8 per month).

Volt mobile benefits include:

• An O2 mobile SIM with 10GB data and unlimited minutes for new customers (worth around £16.99 per month)
• O2 Travel Inclusive Zone with free roaming in 75 destinations, including Europe, USA and Australia (included in above, or O2 Full Travel Bolt On worth £6 per day)
• Double data on all eligible O2 Pay Monthly plans in the same household (worth approximately £3 per month)
• Up to £150 off a tablet, laptop or smartwatch on an O2 Custom Plan, when purchasing a smartphone on an O2 Custom Plan

When we look at the value of the added benefits of Virgin Media Volt, it could be worth as much as £45 per month, or £810 over the length of the 18-month contract.

We've based this calculation on purchasing the roaming bolt-on for 14 days, boosting broadband from M125 to M250, M250 to M350, or M350 to M500 on the broadband and phone plan, and approximate price differences between O2 mobile data plans.

Overall, Virgin Media Volt offers a range of extra benefits that could save customers hundreds of pounds compared to taking services separately.

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Virgin Media Volt packages

Volt packages for new customers are available on Virgin Media broadband and phone plans, or their pre-made TV, broadband and phone bundles.

Here is the latest pricing for Virgin Media Volt broadband and phone bundles:

Volt pricing is more expensive than Virgin Media's broadband-only or broadband and phone plans, however it still offers good value for money when looking at the value of benefits.

Volt costs £4 more per month than equivalent Virgin Media broadband and phone plans. However, up against broadband-only deals, the price increase varies from £11.50 to £17.50 extra per month.

That does mean for those who don't want or need a home phone line, Volt becomes a more expensive option that's worth more careful consideration of the benefits.

For example, the inclusive 10GB O2 SIM is worth around £16.99 per month on its own, however the extra cost of Volt means it's important customers will make use of it.

You can compare all Virgin Media's broadband and phone bundles side-by-side and order by cost on our Virgin Media deals page.

Overall, taking a Virgin Media Volt bundle does cost more per month, but at just £4 more than equivalent broadband and phone plans it could offer very good value for money for customers who'll make use of the benefits included.

Volt TV and broadband bundles

Virgin Media's pre-made TV, broadband and phone bundles all come with Volt versions available.

Here is latest pricing for Volt bundles with Virgin TV, however all the other benefits remain the same.

At the time of writing, all of the Volt bundles above cost more than their non-Volt equivalents, which you can compare on our Virgin Media TV and broadband deals page.

The extra cost for Volt varies around £5 to £10.49 extra per month, so it's still good value for money considering the benefits are worth around £45 per month.

The Big Volt Bundle currently offers the best value for money as is priced just £5 per month above the Big Bundle. In comparison, the Bigger Volt Bundles are around £10 more per month than the Bigger Bundle versions.

Volt also offers an easy way to customise a Virgin Media bundle for households who want a certain TV package but with faster broadband. The Big Volt Bundle offers average download speeds of 362Mb, while the Bigger Volt Bundle includes the M500 plan with average speeds of 516Mb - two tiers up from the standard bundle.

Virgin Media Mega Volt offers the ultrafast M500 broadband plan, alongside Virgin TV 360, Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, BT Sport, and Netflix Standard, and an O2 mobile SIM with unlimited data and unlimited minutes. So, there's a lot crammed into the bundle, which offers exceptional value for money for homes who want a great all-round entertainment and communications plan.

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Volt for existing customers

Existing Virgin Media or O2 customers can still benefit from Volt, however deals may be personalised.

Volt for Virgin Media customers

Customers who have Virgin Media broadband or a Virgin Media TV bundle can add an O2 product to their plan.

The options available to them include:

• An O2 pay monthly mobile phone plan, with double 5G data, the O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Bolt-on, and up to £150 off another connected device (tablet, laptop or smartwatch)
• An O2 pay monthly SIM only plan, with double 5G data and the O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Bolt-on
• An O2 tablet deal with a 5G double data plan

Read how O2 perform as a mobile network.

Volt for O2 customers

Customers who already have an O2 pay monthly plan, but aren't with Virgin Media can add a broadband plan, or a TV and broadband bundle, with savings on boosted download speeds and a whole home wireless guarantee with up to three WiFi Pod boosters.

Existing O2 customers will also receive a double data boost on their plan, and every pay monthly plan in their household.

It's worth noting however, that only pay monthly O2 customers will qualify as it doesn't extend to customers on pay as you go plans.

Read more about Virgin Media broadband in our full review.

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Virgin Media Volt terms

Virgin Media Volt offers great value for money with tangible savings for customers who combine Virgin Media and O2 plans.

However, there are a few terms worth being aware of, which we'll cover here.

Split payments

Services taken from O2 and Virgin Media as part of Volt, including Volt specific bundles for new customers, have the pricing separated.

New customer Volt bundles will be billed together but will be listed separately on their bill. Existing customers who take Volt are likely to end up with separate bills.

However, the split payment, and clear labelling on the bill especially for Volt bundles, does offer a useful level of transparency that allows customers to see exactly how much they're paying for either service.

Annual price increases

Mid-contract price increases are gaining in awareness as inflation soars, yet many customers are still unaware their prices can be increased while they're still in their minimum contract period.

Like most telecoms companies, both O2 and Virgin Media reserve the right to increase prices on an annual basis, however up until April 2023 they did this differently.

O2 specifically state prices will increase by RPI + 3.9% every year in April, and this includes customers both within a contract and those who are out of contract. Customers in contract won't be able to switch away, because the price increase is stated in their contracts.

Volt customers then will see the O2 portion of their bill increase each year with inflation.

While Virgin Media has now updated their terms in line with O2 for contracts taken out from April 2023, customers who took Virgin plans before this and haven't re-contracted may still have the fairer price rise clause.

For the broadband (and TV) part of the Volt bill, Virgin used to say prices might increase during a customer's minimum term, but they didn't specify by how much, which meant customers were free to leave their contracts early if prices went up.

However, new Volt contracts will be subject to the new terms, which means the broadband and TV part of the bill will also be subject to annual price rises of RPI + 3.9% in line with O2.

End of minimum terms

Separate contracts apply to the services from O2 and Virgin Media even when taken as part of Volt.

Customers need to have both services in order to receive the Volt benefits, but if a customer has signed up to the services separately, for example as an existing customer of one provider joining the other, then minimum terms may run at different times.

Both O2 and Virgin Media will notify customers when their contract is coming to an end and the options available to them. At this time, customers can re-contract for a better price, switch away, or they'll be moved onto out of contract prices, which can sometimes be expensive.

As we've covered above, if O2 increase prices during a minimum term a customer cannot leave early without paying a penalty. However, if Virgin Media increase prices during a minimum term, they allow customers to leave early.

In the case that a customer signed up to a Volt bundle as a new customer, they'll be able to leave both parts of the service if Virgin Media increase prices, but this only applies if the O2 plan was taken out at the same time.

Streamlining O2 and Virgin Media contracts can be worthwhile then it at all possible, or signing up to Volt as a new customer. This gives people the best flexibility when contracts expire to shop around for a better deal with other providers if they want to.

Availability

One final point worth covering is the availability of Virgin Media services across the UK and, to a lesser extent, O2's mobile coverage.

Volt deals obviously only work when a customer has access to services from both providers.
As things stand, over 16.1 million premises in the UK can now access Virgin Media broadband and TV, and they are expanding as we cover in our guide to whether you can get Virgin Media.

Coverage for O2 mobile is much better and unlikely to be an issue for many customers (especially given that Virgin's services are focused on urban areas and so Volt benefits affect those in urban areas).

Even so, mobile coverage can sometimes vary, so it's worth double checking you can get O2 coverage in the places where you spend most of your time before signing up to Volt.

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Summary: Is Virgin Media Volt any good?

As we've seen, Virgin Media Volt can offer customers savings of £45 per month compared to purchasing the benefits and extras included separately.

On top of this, some Virgin Media Volt bundles are cheaper than their non-Volt equivalents, right now in the case of all broadband and phone Volt bundles, making Volt an easy choice to make.

But even where Volt costs more than the non-Volt equivalent, for example with Virgin Media's pre-made bundles, the cost difference is still small - around £5 to at most £10.50 more per month.

Yet the Volt benefits included are worth much more than this extra cost, so Volt really does offer customers value for money and is worth serious consideration.

Overall, Volt is a great innovation from Virgin Media and O2 that genuinely offers tangible savings on combined services. Volt is one of the main reasons why Virgin Media beat Sky in terms of price on big bundles, as well as broadband speeds.