Virgin Media customers enjoy a connected Christmas

• Five devices connected per household

• 24 million devices connect to Virgin Media network on Christmas day

The average Virgin Media UK household had five different internet-enabled gadgets connected to their network on Christmas day.

Data released by the ultrafast broadband provider shows that between 5pm and 10pm on Christmas day there were 24 million devices being used on the Virgin Media UK network across almost 4.5 million active broadband connections. The peak number of devices connected occurred at 10pm on Christmas day with the majority of devices used being smartphones connected via Wi-Fi.

The number of internet-enabled devices has grown significantly in the past decade, as homes and businesses are increasingly connected to multiple devices simultaneously. In February 2015, 60 per cent of Virgin Media customers had at least three devices connected to their home broadband, up from 37 per cent in 2014.

Data usage on the Virgin Media network is growing at a rate of around 60 per cent every year which, if this trend continues, will be 10,000 per cent higher in 10 years.

As of 30 September 2015 Virgin Media had 4.6 million UK broadband customers.

Active broadband connection - measured as at least one device connected and some data transferred over the monitoring period.

Broadband connection data:

Virgin Media offers four multi award-winning services across the UK and Ireland: broadband, TV, mobile phone and landline.

The company’s dedicated, ultrafast network delivers the fastest widely available broadband speeds to homes and businesses. And we’re expanding this through our £3bn Project Lightning programme, which will reach 17 million premises.

Our interactive TV service brings live programmes, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and the best apps and games in a set-top box, as well as on-the-go for tablets and smartphones.

We launched the world’s first virtual mobile network, offering fantastic value and services to customers. We are also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the UK and Ireland.

Through Virgin Media Business we support entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector, delivering the fastest widely available broadband speeds and tailor-made services.

Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, the world’s largest international cable company. Together Virgin Media and Liberty Global serve 27 million customers across 14 countries.