Virgin Media customers will soon be able to pay for Netflix on their existing bills

Virgin Media has confirmed it’s to become the UK’s second pay-TV provider to let customers add the cost of a Netflix subscription to their existing bill, following in the footsteps of rival BT which pioneered the feature in 2014.

Despite not offering single billing, Virgin Media has offered access to Netflix via its set top boxes since 2013.

From October, all new and existing Virgin TV customers who don’t yet have Netflix will be able to add the streaming service to their Virgin Media bill.

Customers with a new V6 box can also stream selected content in 4K.

Jeff Dodds, Managing Director of Consumer and Mobile at Virgin Media said: “Virgin TV has always been about giving our customers the TV they love all in one place.

“We were the first to embrace this open philosophy by embedding Netflix into our platform back in 2013 and it’s clearly something that our customers absolutely love.

“By expanding our relationship further we’re forming an even deeper relationship with our friends at Netflix and giving our customers a simpler way to pay for the service”.

The UK’s pay-TV brands are increasingly providing a gateway for streaming services to attract customers looking for a simple, ‘one box’ solution.

Sky is due to add Netflix to its set top boxes, having promised users an “integrated” experience, while BT is preparing to add Amazon Prime Video and, from next year, Sky’s Now TV to its boxes.

Paolo Pescatore from analysts CCS Insight said “Consumers are spoilt with choice due to the rise of online video services.

“However, this is leading to huge fragmentation resulting in users forced to sign up to numerous services.

“However, in reality consumers do not want to sign up to numerous services, receive more bills and be forced to open several apps to find the content they want.

“Therefore, we will see the return of big content bundles delivered over Internet connections.”
 
“For Netflix, partnerships with cable providers and operators will be crucial in attracting new customers.

“More so as it continues to heavily focus on tailoring content requirements to suit local markets.”

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