[5] The two companies had previously argued over the terms of the agreement made in 1999 and Richard Branson had filed a High Court action against T-Mobile.

The combination of Virgin Mobile and NTL:Telewest would create the United Kingdom's first "quadruple play" media company, bringing together TV, broadband internet access, mobile phone and fixed-line phone services, and allowing NTL:Telewest to use the Virgin brand.

Under the deal, Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson was understood to be planning to swap his controlling 72% stake in Virgin Mobile for a 14% holding in NTL:Telewest, which would make the billionaire entrepreneur the biggest shareholder in the combined group, and give him a share of future revenues.

Branson indicated that he would accept the third option, which led to him receiving at least a 10.1% stake in the newly enlarged NTL:Telewest, and helped to fund the increased 372p per share in cash for the minority shareholders.

[14] On 31 August 2023, sales of new Virgin Mobile SIM only and device plans were stopped and the network ceased operations.

However, the merger meant Virgin Mobile customers reported losing signal as EE consolidated the coverage of the two formerly separate networks.

Users on 4G plans have free access to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger apps by "zero-rating" until their data allowance is used in full.

[citation needed] On 6 November 2019, it was announced that Virgin Mobile would end their 20-year contract with BT and EE, and would use Vodafone's network from 2021, initially for five years.

[20] However, following the mid-2021 merger, Virgin Media O2 stated that notice to cancel the MVNO agreement had been given, and that the company intended to bring all consumer mobile services onto the O2 network.