O2 and Virgin Media the Big Winners at Broadband Awards

Inaugural Broadband Genie Awards Also see Plusnet, BE and BT Gain Top Accolades

CAMBRIDGE, England, January 31, 2011 - O2 and Virgin Media took two awards each of the seven on offer in the
first Broadbandgenie.co.uk Home Broadband Awards, announced today.

O2 was awarded Best Broadband Provider 2011, as well as the Best
Broadband Support Award. Both awards used independent data provided by
OnePoll, which surveyed more than 3,000 customers across all of the UK's
leading broadband suppliers.

Felix Geyr, managing director of O2 Home and Broadband, said: "I'm
delighted O2 has won these awards from Broadband Genie. When we re-launched
our packages last year we wanted customers to see that we were serious about
improving the quality of service and experience they receive from their ISP.
These awards are proof we are doing what we set out to achieve."

Virgin Media landed both Fastest Broadband Provider and Best Bundled
Broadband. The Fastest Provider award used data from almost 40,000 speed
tests from www.broadbandgenie.co.uk - in partnership with Think
Broadband. Best Bundled Broadband was voted for by a panel of industry
experts, as were Best Budget Broadband (won by Plusnet) and Most Innovative
Provider (BE Broadband).

The final award, Most Anticipated Product 2011, was voted for by more
than 1,500 participants in a poll on the Broadband Genie website. This was
won by BT, for the continuing roll-out of fibre broadband across the UK. John
Petter, managing director of BT's consumer division, said: "BT is delighted
to win this award. We are always striving to give our customers the best
products and services and as part of this we are committed to rolling out
super-fast broadband across the UK."

Commenting on the awards, Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling said: "We
spend every day comparing broadband products, advising consumers on how best
to find the right deals and listening to their feedback, so these awards
seemed like an obvious next step.

"We hope the variety and depth of our research will put them on the map
as an important indicator of which ISPs are performing. We hope the others
will strive to improve their quality and range of offers to give consumers
both value for money and higher standards of service, speed and reliability."

Hi res images on request.

Full results: www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/broadband/awards

Analysis:
www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/blog/20110121-broadband-awards-2011-analysis

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Broadband Genie is the UK's leading independent broadband and
smartphone comparison website, providing an unbiased source of information on
prices and contracts and allowing consumers to compare providers in an
independent environment. Broadband Genie was launched in March 2004 as the
first dedicated consumer comparison site for broadband, while Mobile
Broadband Genie was the first independent mobile broadband comparison site,
launched in October 2007. The sites were combined in 2010, with the addition
of smartphone comparison. The site is one of the most popular in its field,
regularly featuring in the national press. www.broadbandgenie.co.uk

2. All queries and interview requests should be directed to Chris Marling
at Broadband Genie: chris.marling@broadbandgenie.co.uk

All queries and interview requests should be directed to Chris Marling at Broadband Genie: t +44(0)844-415-5531 / f +44(0)871-6618553 / m +44(0)7908-327303 / chris.marling at broadbandgenie.co.uk