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O2 mobile for Virgin Media broadband customers: what you get

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We look at what extra benefits you get for joining O2 on a mobile deal if you’ve got broadband or TV from Virgin Media at home. Last updated: 7th September 2023.

In our guide to O2 Volt

Virgin Media customers get benefits for joining O2

O2 Volt banner

Get more out of your monthly productsRead O2’s guide

at O2.co.uk
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If you didn’t already know, Virgin Media and O2 are now the same company. So far, it seems they’re going to let Virgin focus on cable TV and broadband, while O2 focus on mobile.

Virgin have now abolished their Virgin Mobile brand, leaving O2 as your main way to get all your services from the “same” provider. But what are the benefits of doing that?

O2 have set up what they call Volt. It’s their name for SIM only and phone contracts they offer, giving people with Virgin Media TV or broadband at home exclusive benefits for joining O2.

In this guide, we take you through everything you get and give our opinion to the question: “Is it worth joining O2 as a Virgin Media customer?” We hope you find this guide useful.

Skip to: Benefits and discounts | How to get it

Benefits for Volt customers

Double data boosts on O2 SIM only and phone contracts

Double data Volt banner

Take a smaller plan and save moneySee qualifying plans

at O2.co.uk
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You don’t get any straight up discounts for joining O2 as a Virgin Media customer. But you do get double data on most 12-month and 24-month pay monthly contracts (but not on 1-month contracts).

It means for example that if you needed a 100GB SIM, you could take a cheaper 50GB SIM from O2 and the data allowance would be doubled to what you need. So Volt does let you choose a cheaper deal.

Here are O2’s current Volt SIMs (in red is the non-Virgin Media customer data):

But the Volt benefit doesn’t just apply to SIM only plans. If you buy a phone contract directly from O2 (not via third party retailers), they’ll also double the data in your airtime plan (or make it unlimited).

So, in that way you’ll save money over the length of your phone contract as you can get the right amount of data to suit your needs while technically being on a smaller, cheaper plan.

Useful link: We compare O2 SIMs

Get inclusive worldwide roaming on any O2 plan

O2's travel inclusive zone list

Roam in the EU and these countriesSee full country list

at O2.co.uk
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Every pay monthly plan (phone or SIM) on O2 includes at least EU roaming at no extra cost. But some of them all offer inclusive roaming in a total of 27 further non-EU destinations.

It’s called O2’s Travel Inclusive Zone and you can only usually get it on O2’s higher end plans. But as a Virgin Media Volt customer you can get it on any plan (even 1-month plans) added to your account.

If you didn't have Virgin Media broadband, here's what extra roaming would cost on each plan:

Even if you choose O2’s cheapest SIM or plan with your phone contract, it will include the benefit. It gives you 120 minutes, 120 texts and “some” data per day in those countries, to keep you ticking over.

We think it’s 150MB per day before you get unlimited but heavily speed capped data. But it’s better than paying for your data. And it comes on O2’s cheapest plan, it’s like another discount for Virgin Media users.

Useful link: Read O2’s full guide to roaming

Discounts on O2 tablet, laptop and smartwatch plans

O2 Supercharge your tech

£150 discount on other devicesSee their range

at O2.co.uk
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O2 don’t offer direct discounts off their phone contracts for Virgin Mobile customers (but as we said above there are some technical discounts). However, they offer an incentive to take out an O2 phone contract:

If you join O2 on one of their Custom Plans for a phone, they’ll give you a £150 discount off an additional device that you add to your account (provided you have Virgin Media broadband / TV at home).

That device can either be a tablet (see O2’s range and prices here), a smartwatch (see them all here) or even a laptop (see here). You can’t use it for extra phones though, which would be nicer.

You need to call O2’s customer service or visit one of their shops to get the discount, it doesn’t automatically apply when you order online. So getting your discount means you have to jump through a few hoops.

Useful link: We compare O2 phone contracts

Faster speeds on your Virgin Media home broadband

Virgin Media Volt speed boost

Get the next level of speeds at homeSee speed tiers

at virginmedia.com
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Volt isn’t just a benefit for your O2 mobile plan. You’ll also get a free speed upgrade on your Virgin Media broadband at home, when you take an O2 phone or SIM under the same name.

This works like another discount for joining O2 as a Virgin Broadband customer. For example, if you pay for a lower cost 100Mb broadband deal, you’ll get boosted to 200Mb for no added cost (these are just examples).

There are a few obvious conditions around this. It only works if you aren’t already on the top tier available in your area. Not every area can get every tier of speed - it’s dependent on the network there.

The main benefit is to your home broadband experience. You’ll get faster downloads. But it does have a monetary value. It costs around £6 a month to go up to the next speed tier. So it’s another effective discount.

Useful link: Virgin Media’s gigabit broadband rollout

Get Intelligent WiFi Plus at home for free on Volt

Intelligent WiFi Plus with Volt

Extra WiFi range at no added costHow it works

at virginmedia.com
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Virgin Media offer an upgrade to your normal home broadband package called Intelligent WiFi Plus, which is aimed at improving the range and speeds of your home WiFi around the house (read their full guide here).

Usually this costs £5 per month, but you’ll get it included at no added cost as a joint O2 and Virgin Media customer. That’s on top of the speed boost, meaning your home broadband experience is improved in two ways.

It includes a maximum of 3x WiFi pods that you plug in around your house, which take wireless signals and boosts them in far flung rooms, to improve the signal for connected devices there.

You will have to manually call up Virgin Media for them to diagnose if you actually need them or not. If you do then you’ll get them installed at no extra cost, which is very handy.

Useful link: Read full Volt FAQs on all included services

How to get Volt

New Virgin Media and O2 customers

Volt Bundles

O2 plans and Virgin Media bundledSee all options

at virginmedia.com
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If you’ve not got mobile with O2, nor have you got Virgin Media’s broadband, you can join either separately or together at the same time to get your Volt benefits. They’re very flexible.

You can sign up to an O2 SIM plan and Virgin Media home broadband in one transaction by taking a combined bundle on Virgin Media’s site here if you want. Or you can take them separately if you prefer.

If you want to join O2 on a mobile product but don’t want to join Virgin Media right away, you can take an O2 SIM only plan here or phone plan here and then follow the links in your O2 account to join Virgin later.

If you’re ready to join Virgin Media now but not ready to join O2 for a mobile deal, then pick your package from Virgin’s range here and then sign up to O2 when you’re ready and login to MyO2 to claim benefits.

Useful link: See combined O2 SIM and Virgin Media broadband bundles

Customers already on Virgin Media broadband/TV

O2 Custom plans on smartphones

Join O2 as you usually wouldPick a deal

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If you’re an existing Virgin Media broadband/TV customer, you can join O2 on a pay monthly phone or SIM only contract at any point to get your Volt benefits. We believe this works automatically.

It will only work if your home services contract and mobile contract are in the exact same name and the exact same billing address. O2 stress this in their FAQs here.

Here are our favourite O2 SIMs currently (without Volt applied):

Also bear in mind that when you choose your plan you will have your data allowance doubled. So if you need 100GB each month, you’re best off choosing a 50GB plan for example.

Useful link: We compare O2 SIMs | We compare O2 phone contracts

Customers already on O2 for mobile

Virgin Bundles for existing O2 customers

Virgin show you what you’ll getSee current prices

at virginmedia.com
(opens in new window)

If you’re already on a SIM only or phone contract with O2, you can join Virgin Media to get your Volt benefits on your O2 plan and new Virgin broadband/TV deal at any point.

Virgin Media even clearly show you the bundles available to you as an O2 customer here, with their boosted speeds spelled out.

Again, we’d point out you must have both Virgin Media and O2 accounts in the same name and same billing address to make sure your benefits can be applied. They can’t apply them to mismatched details.

And bear in mind you can’t get Virgin Media’s broadband network in every part of the country. Check your postcode here to see availability and speeds before joining Virgin for broadband.

Useful link: Virgin’s help section for O2 customers

Already on O2 and Virgin Media broadband?

O2 Existing customer login screen

Get your benefits via My O2Sign in here

at O2.co.uk
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It doesn’t look like Volt is a “for new customers only” type deal. If you already have a mobile SIM or phone contract from O2 and Virgin Media broadband at home, you can still benefit, just not automatically.

You’ll need to have both products in the same name and address (if you haven’t it won’t work). But if you do, you can log in to My O2 and find where to apply your benefits.

Virgin and O2 do have to process a lot in the background to join up your accounts, so it might take a while before the Volt benefits for your O2 and Virgin deals come through. Give it a few days for it to work.

There’s no absolute guarantee on our or their end that you’ll be able to get the benefits. There are always complications and exceptions when companies merge like this, so be aware of that.

Useful link: See full terms and conditions for Volt here

Other O2 articles