Virgin Media O2 to supply Government with anonymised data about how its network is being used

Virgin Media O2 Business is to provide the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with anonymised data about population dynamics, travel patterns, and other movement trends.

Network insights from Virgin Media O2 Business’ anonymised and aggregated data service, O2 Motion, will be available on the Integrated Data Service (IDS). This is the ONS’s data sharing service which can be accessed by accredited researchers analysing issues such as public health, regional growth, jobs and skills. 

O2 Motion data will be integrated with ONS surveys and administrative data sources to help policymakers, researchers, and even the public.

The O2 Motion data will be updated weekly to enable real time analysis..

Geoff Wappett, Head of AI and Data Insights at Virgin Media O2 Business, said: “Generated from billions of daily network events, our mobile data will provide governmental organisations and officials with reliable information to ensure quality insights are easily accessible to support data-driven decision making.”