How Virgin Media O2 is helping one million people who face digital exclusion

Virgin Media O2 is on a mission to connect one million people who face digital exclusion, and they’re tackling the issue from many different angles.

The work was inspired by the fact that around two million people are completely disconnected form the internet for a number of reasons including financial barriers and a lack of trust. Indeed, research from Virgin Money and the Good Things Foundation found that one in three people in the UK knows someone without data or internet access. Without data and internet access, These people are increasingly excluded from modern-day life – missing opportunities for education, work, and staying connected to loved ones.

Kami White

Here’s a closer look at the many different ways Virgin Media O2 is tackling the issue:

• Firstly, they give people on very low incomes (or facing a crisis) the chance to connect through free data and devices. By partnering with the Good Things Foundation, Virgin Media O2 founded the National Databank, which acts like a foodbank but for data. To date, the databank has supported over 100,000 people with connectivity. Incredible.

• The team also gives free data and refurbished phones to people in need (such as refugees, victims of domestic violence, and people experiencing homelessness) as part of its Community Calling project with Hubbub. So far, the project has distributed 20,000 phones.

• Through its partnership with Jangala, Virgin Media O2 is providing families with sim-enabled Wi-Fi across the country. The programme will connect at least 20,000 people by the summer of 2025.

• Beyond these efforts, Virgin Media O2 has also updated its products and services to provide affordable data and broadband packages. It’s always encouraging to see purpose impacting products. Packages such as the Essential Broadband package and the O2 Essential Plan are there to help anyone on a low income get online.

• Virgin Media O2 is also helping people navigate the online world, which can be a confusing and scary place at times. It’s doing this by providing digital skills training for adults via Learn My Way with The Good Things Foundation; helping parents keep children safe online with it’s Find the Right Words campaign; and working to prevent fraud and scams with its free AI-powered spam-fighting tools and clever campaigns to give fraud-fighting advice

• Finally, Virgin Media O2 is working with industry peers, communities and the government to help more people become digital citizens. The business is an active member of the all-party parliamentary group on digital inclusion, and it’s not stopping there.

Thank you for tackling this issue in such a comprehensive and thoughtful way, Virgin Media O2. A great example for businesses everywhere.

You can find more purpose stories from across the Virgin Group right here.