Tag: virgin

Sky Ireland and Virgin Media Ireland Announce Landmark Wholesale Deal

Sky Ireland and Virgin Media Ireland today announced a wholesale network access deal, that will significantly enhance broadband services available to Sky Ireland customers, across the country.

Through the partnership, Sky Ireland will supercharge its broadband experience and provide even more options to Irish consumers, utilising the infrastructure of Virgin Media Ireland’s superfast fibre broadband network.

Virgin Media Ireland boasts a formidable network that currently passes 1 million premises across Ireland, making it one of the most extensive and reliable broadband networks in the country. The company’s ongoing €200m network upgrade to full fibre is continuing to 2025 and will support speeds up to 10Gbps. Virgin Media Ireland has already upgraded over 250,000 premises to fibre across the Virgin network.

Speaking about the partnership with Virgin Media Ireland, Sky Ireland CEO, JD Buckley, said:

“This partnership with Virgin Media Ireland allows us to offer our customers even more choice when it comes to full fibre broadband. Sky now has partnerships with every full fibre broadband provider in Ireland. Whether our customers are using broadband for work, streaming content through Sky Glass or Sky Stream, or gaming, we can offer them the best full fibre service available in their area. This new partnership highlights our shared commitment to provide Irish consumers with a wider choice of high-quality services and the best broadband experience.” 

Tony Hanway, Chief Executive of Virgin Media Ireland said:

“We welcome Sky as a wholesale network partner as we continue our network expansion nationally, bringing ultrafast fibre connectivity to over 1 million homes by the end of 2025. This further development forms part of our comprehensive ongoing commitment towards Ireland’s digital progress, enhancing overall competition and service delivery for consumers, businesses and communities nationwide.” 

Sky Ireland’s latest full fibre broadband service will be available to customers across the country from 31st October. For further information on Sky offers and packages, check out www.sky.ie.

Virgin Media launches 2 Gigabit Full Fibre Broadband to 345,000 homes and businesses in Ireland

Virgin Media has announced the rollout of 2 Gig full fibre broadband to homes and businesses across Ireland. This will see Virgin Media’s new 2 Gig fibre broadband become available in towns including Tralee, Killarney and Letterkenny, along with ongoing full fibre network upgrades in areas such as Dublin, Cork and Louth.

With lightning-fast speeds of up to 2 Gig and 99.9% reliability, Virgin Media’s new full fibre broadband network is designed to revolutionise the way we connect and experience the digital world.

Today’s announcement also represents a significant milestone in Virgin Media’s three-year transition to a full fibre network, having previously led the charge in making Ireland FASTER with the switching on of 1 Gig broadband across the company’s entire network in 2020.

Virgin Media’s new 2 Gig full fibre broadband will provide customers with even faster speeds and superior reliability than ever before, reinforcing the company’s commitment to delivering the very best digital connectivity to consumers and businesses across Ireland.

Tony Hanway, CEO of Virgin Media said: “At Virgin Media, we always aim to deliver the very best experiences to our customers through our broadband and television services. Today’s announcement marks a step-change for our business as we will now offer superfast and reliable fibre broadband services in new regions across Ireland, resulting in greater consumer choice and increased competition.”

Recent research carried out by Amárach, on behalf of Virgin Media, showed that in this post-Covid world, a consumer’s broadband connection has never been more important than it is today, with over a third of consumers not only relying on their home broadband for their entertainment and streaming needs, but also for their home working needs.

The research also found that over half (53%) have consumed more streaming content over the last two years compared to before the pandemic.

Unsurprisingly, 47% of respondents stated that a reliable broadband connection is the most important factor when it comes to their home broadband connection with 31% stating a high-speed connection as the most important.

Our homes have become our offices, schools, cinemas and everything in between and these findings underline how integral super-fast connectivity is to our daily lives. To find out more go to www.virginmedia.ie

Virgin Media expands market reach adding 450,000 premises nationwide in SIRO network deal

Virgin Media has announced a network deal with SIRO whereby Virgin Media will offer a full range of services to over 450,000 currently enabled SIRO premises throughout Ireland.

Virgin Media Ireland already offers 1Gbps (Gigabit per second) broadband speeds to one million premises across Virgin’s own super-fast network.

Virgin Media’s expansion will further drive competition and enable ultrafast digital services by helping businesses and communities connect to Virgin’s broadband and digital TV service in many more locations across Ireland.

CEO of Virgin Media, Tony Hanway said: “At Virgin Media we are always pushing the boundaries of speed and service delivery for our customers. Today’s announcement increases our network reach to 70% of all the premises in Ireland. Our new partnership with SIRO means we will be offering our market-leading ultrafast broadband and TV services to more Irish consumers and businesses than ever before.”

SIRO CEO John Keaney, welcoming the agreement between SIRO and Virgin Media noted: “SIRO is an open access wholesaler rolling out full fibre broadband to 154 towns and 770,000 premises across Ireland. Our objective is to deliver our world class connectivity to communities and businesses across Ireland, while constantly bringing innovation to the broadband market.”

€200,000 Virgin Media Discovers Short Film Competition announces shortlist of 10 emerging talents, in association with Screen Ireland

Ten new submissions have been shortlisted to take part in the 2022 Virgin Media Discovers Short Film Competition, benefiting from total prize fund of €200,000.

Selected from hundreds of entries this year, each shortlisted project will receive an investment of €6,000 to develop their script with a mentor and the three finalists will be chosen and awarded €30,000 to bring their script to life on screen with the production of a 10-minute short film. The final production will be broadcast on Virgin Media Television and Virgin Media on Demand.

With well over 70 years of script writing experience combined, mentors include storytellers such as Bláthnaid de Róiste (Ros na Rún, Fair City, and Holby City), Eilish Kent (Foreign Exchange, Raw, and Fade St), Gavin Burke (lecturer in screenwriting at IADT), Aileen Docherty (Holby, Waterloo Road, and The Clinic) and Nadine Flynn (Fair City and EastEnders).

Now in its third year, the competition continues to showcase outstanding original creativity and a diverse collection of voices and engaging stories with star judges for this year’s competition including Lenny Abrahamson, Director of the new ‘Conversations with Friends’ series and rising Irish actress, writer and star of hit crime drama, Kin, Clare Dunne.

One of last year’s winning films, ‘Punch Line’, which tells the story of how a transgender female stand-up comedian reframes a transphobic attack she experiences during the day in her routine that evening, has gone on to win a number of international awards, including ‘Best Direction’ at the LGBTQ+ Los Angeles Film Festival.

Bill Malone, Director of Content at Virgin Media Television said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer this level of funding, mentorship and a platform to some of Ireland’s most promising film makers that have such unique voices and new stories to tell.

“As a national broadcasting platform, it is important to Virgin Media that we invest in emerging talent, the Virgin Media Discovers Short Film Competition is a great opportunity for us to do this.

“For our applicants this is not just about building their careers, it is also a chance to raise awareness of the issues at the heart of their films, and I am thrilled that we can help them to have their voices heard.”

Andrew Byrne, Head of Television, Screen Ireland said: “As the national development agency for the creative screen sector, investing in and encouraging the development of new talent is a key principle of our work in Screen Ireland.

“We are thrilled once again to be able to further support this short film initiative, growing a broad range of exciting new talent and giving mentorship and first screen opportunities to a range of creative voices and diverse themes which deserve further recognition.

“We look forward to seeing the final developed projects and shining a light on the stars of the future both in front of and behind the screen.”

The Prize:

With a prize fund of €200,000, 10 filmmakers will be awarded €6,000 to realise the full potential of their scripts through professional development. 3 of these projects will then be awarded €30,000 to produce their 10-minute short film which will be broadcast on Virgin Media Television in 2023. €50,000 will go towards supporting the projects through script editing, mentorship, PR, advertising and marketing support.

The Judging Panel:

Star judges include award-winning director and screenwriter Lenny Abrahamson (Adam & Paul, Normal People, What Richard Did and Room), rising Irish actress, writer and star of hit crime drama, Kin, Clare Dunne; Clinton Liberty who played Kiernan in global hit drama ‘Normal People’ and Linus in drama ‘Holding’; screenwriter and executive producer Ursula Rani Sarma (Delicious and Red Rock) as well as representatives from Virgin Media Television, Screen Ireland and the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival.

The 10 shortlisted projects are:

Always Find Him in the Kitchen At Parties (Drama) Writer/Director: Zoë Gibney

Fake it ’til you make it, that’s what Sean keeps telling himself. But how far will he go to cover his shame?

Location: Dublin

Blith (Drama) Writer/Director: Gerard Walsh and Fabu-D

David has recently moved to Ireland to create a better life for his daughter as a paediatrician. He soon finds out it’s not that simple.

Location: Dublin

 

Calf Writer/Director: Jamie O’Rourke

A near fatal farm accident leaves teenager Cáit with a terrible decision to make in order to do what she must to protect her family.

Location: Tipperary

Casper (Drama) Writer/Director: Jason Forde and Jody O’Neill

A dark film about the final week of 8-year-old autistic boy Casper’s life. Utilising straight to camera address, visuals and sound inspired by the autistic experience to mesh avant-garde documentary style with narrative.

Location: Wicklow & Cork

Coasteering (Drama) Writer/Director: Orla Sanders & Joanne Fitzgerald

Following a series of unsuccessful rounds of IVF, Sinead runs and Peter gardens; creating life can destroy you.

Location: Dublin

 

Crushed (Drama) Writer/Director: Eilís Doherty and Olivia McLaughlin

A dramedy about what happens when your feelings are strong, but your vodka is stronger. Emma battles with ‘the fear’ when she overshares about her crush on a night out.

Location: Dublin, Donegal & Kildare

 

Good Chips (Drama) Writer/Director: Nell Hensey and Brigid Leahy

Dublin 1989. A family of Vietnamese immigrants struggle to keep their takeaway business afloat while their 12 year old daughter befriends one of the  customers, a local Irish boy. When he disappears, she sets out to find him.

Location: Clare & Dublin

Home Safe (Neon-Noir / Thriller) Writer/Director: Jaro Waldeck and Grace Sexton

In a normal world, walking home may seem like a straight-forward thing to do. But in the world of a sketchy man, hooded and hard to read, this task proves to be quite the undertaking. What dangers can he encounter on his way home?

Location: Wexford, West Cork & Dublin

Unhinged (Comedy) Writer/Director: Mary Kirwan and Zoë Brennan-Whitmore

After discovering the love of her life and colleague on Tinder, a self-deprecating fat millennial must find the confidence to swipe right before his leaving party, all while navigating a fatphobic workplace

Location: Wicklow & Cork

Why the Sun & Moon Live in the Sky (Fantasy) Writer/Director: Aisha Bolaji and Alfonso Films

Living in the mundane suburbia of Farraig-Mor, two teens plan to escape by building a spacecraft and living in the sky.

Location: Dublin, Meath & Wicklow

Virgin Mobile sms voice message scam to watch out for

Another day another scam this time it is an sms scam which claims to be sending you a voice message, this is not the case at all and has another unusual twist to it. Check the URL up top for 4smilesdental, then as seen in the image you will be asked to download a voice message app which is not required and you will see that if you can’t download the app you should allow it by changing the settings, clearly malware that will be installed on your phone.

As usual if you get a strange sms which this one is albeit appearing to coming from an Irish number you can spot that the text is all over the place and if you get such you should delete it straight away, I have checked this number out and it just answers with nothing else going on. A quick check on tellows and Who called me also lists the number as trouble.

Free Movie Weekends this Christmas with Virgin Media

To say a big ‘thank you’ to our TV customers, Virgin Media are running TWO Free Movie weekends this December to make the Christmas celebrations a little brighter. During these two amazing weekends, Friday 10th – Sunday, 12th December and Friday 17th – Sunday, 19th December –  Virgin Media TV customers will get access to movies on demand for a full weekend! They can choose from a huge catalogue of Christmas crackers, classics and blockbusters. What better way to get into the mood for Christmas?

To avail of the offer, customers will just need to follow these simple steps and they’ll be on their way:

  • Click the On Demand button on their remote control, browse the movie catalogue in Virgin Movies, select their movie and click “Rent”.

  • Input their PIN code (Every Virgin TV customer has one) If they haven’t change it, the default PIN will be 0000. Their rental will NOT show up on your next bill (once they have booked it during the promotion period and they keep their viewing to 10 movies!)

They can find more info on the On Demand homepage on Horizon, or by going to Channel 100 on their Digital TV (D4A) or multi-room box and click “Messages” or the On Demand Homepage on TV360.

Customers can also find out more about all the great movies we have to offer by browsing On Demand on their Set Top Box.