London - Richard Branson's Virgin Group on Thursday announced the launch of Virgin Media, which will offer bundled digital TV, broadband, home and mobile phone service across the U.K.

The company, which was created last year through the merger of Virgin Mobile with U.K. cable firms NTL and Telewest, also announced plans for Virgin Central, an interactive cable channel set to launch on Feb. 20.

The free, on-demand channel will allow users to choose among episodes of TV shows from various providers. Programs available will include Fox's "The O.C." and "Nip/Tuck"; NBC's "West Wing"; ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Alias"; CBS' "Criminal Minds" and "CSI"; and the BBC's "Little Britain."

"Today's creation of Virgin Media sees a milestone in the history of the media industry and cable in particular," said Virgin Group founder Richard Branson.

"For the first time there is a single brand set to provide a more extensive range of television entertainment, broadband and communication services than previously offered by anyone in the UK."

Virgin Media plans to sell its "quadplay" services in its own Virgin Mobile and Virgin Megastores locations, as well as from hundreds of other U.K. retail stores.

Related Links:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070208/ukw019.html?.v=53

http://www.virgin.com/Companies/VirginMedia/VirginMedia.aspx