Virgin Media said its total number of subscribers in Ireland reached 1.1 million at the end of the third quarter, adding new broadband and phone subscribers during the three-month period.

The company, which rebranded last month from UPC to Virgin Media, said it added 12,200 new service subscriptions for its broadband services and more than 21,000 new phone subscriptions in the three months to the end of September, compared with the same period a year earlier.

At the end of June, the media firm said subscribers stood at 1,099,000 overall, down from 1,101,900 as of the end of the first quarter.

The firm has promised a new focus on its customers following the changeover to the Virgin Media name. In conjunction with its rebranding, the Virgin Media Ireland also began offering a mobile service to its customers; some 1,000 had already availed of it prior to its commercial launch at the beginning of October.

Virgin Media Ireland's chief financial officer Carol Grennan said the company's business division increased revenues by 31 per cent, which includes customers from small firms to large enterprises and also includes wholesale business and wifi provider Bitbuzz.

“In addition, we’re pleased to have upgraded over 60 businesses to our new carrier-grade Ethernet service which has earned Carrier Ethernet 2.0 certification from the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF),” she said. “This provides significant commercial benefits to our business customers and demonstrates our commitment to the continuous development of our network.”

The company, which is owned by international cable firm Liberty Global, bought TV3 earlier this year in a deal worth up to €87 million.