Virgin's "quad-play" on shaky foundations

Everyone will have doubtless already seen that NTL bought Virgin mobile. Possibly consumers will like the idea of managing a single bill for “quad-play” mobile, broadband, home telephony and TV, especially if Virgin can establish a genuine reputation for customer service, something that is currently perceived to be the weakest link for many current UK broadband providers (see coverage at This is Money here and here).

However, I envisage two problems. First, the hope that customers with broadband will go on paying good money for home telephony when Skype is free seems optimistic, bringing “quad-play” back down to a more modest “triple-play”. Second is that Sky is mulling a move (TheRegister) to quash the competitive threat from Virgin by bundling free broadband with its TV package. With broadband in any case offering users an incrementally free, if legally dubious, alternative to paying for subscription TV channels, and with wifi rolling out in city centres all over the world (see e.g. London and San Francisco) offering a potential alternative channel of mobile telephony, there are clear threats to all four pillars of Virgin’s new quadruple offer.

NTL's thinking seems to rest on the notion that while four rocks thrown individually into a pond will clearly sink, they might float if they are tied together. I've yet to be convinced.