Virgin Media, Britain’s second largest pay-television company, and owners of Virgin Mobile UK, its MVNO service, reported first quarter earnings today. Mobile revenue in the quarter fell 3 percent to £135.3 million ($205 million) from £139.5 million ($211 million) a year ago, as low value prepay subscribers left the company, which Virgin said reflected their decision not to focus on the lower end of the market because of its lower overall profitability. These low-end customers were replaced by more valuable contract customers, as Virgin’s strategy of cross-selling mobile contracts to its broadband cable customers was paying off. Virgin Mobile added 62,900 contract subscribers in the quarter, a 63 percent jump from last year, giving it a total of 712,300 contract customers. As of the end of Q1, Virgin Mobile UK has a total customer base of 3.956 million, with 82 percent prepay customers, and 18 percent contract customers.

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