1.5 million households in the UK have no internet access. For a further 2 million, connectivity is a struggle. Digital inequality has been a yawning chasm for years but the pandemic brought that digital inequality into striking sharp relief, as children struggled to access their Zoom classes and businesses and government services accelerated their move online.
And so, at Christmas 2021, Virgin Media O2 announced the UK-wide roll out of the National Databank, a scheme to help disconnected communities to gain access to the internet. In the current, digitised world, internet access is a necessity for everything from education to job application and accessing government services. Virgin Media O2 has tripled its initial pledge of £12.5 million to the Databank, which is also open to all telecom providers.
On top of that for every handset purchase O2 donated more data to those in need.