The broadcaster is now considering contacting the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards, over what it claims is Virgin Media's "misleading advertising".
Yesterday, Virgin Media said it would take on BSkyB by offering a new package of Sky Sports 1, 2 and 3 and Sky Sports Extra, along with 39 other digital television channels including E4, CBeebies and ITV2 for just £26 a month, undercutting Sky. The Sky Sports offer is open to anyone with an £11 Virgin Media phone line. Virgin Media had said that an equivalent package from Sky, based on its basic TV package with Sky Sports and a BT phone line, costs £45 a month.
A spokesman for Sky, who disputed the claims, said: "For all their talk about honesty and transparency, NTL-Virgin are making misleading comparisons that ignore fundamental differences between our products. The inconvenient truth for NTL-Virgin is that their customers can save hundreds of pounds a year by switching to Sky.
"Sky's £34 a month package offers the chance to enjoy subscription-free broadband and free UK evening and weekend calls whereas the nearest equivalent set of products from NTL-Virgin would cost £70 a month. When the cost of BT line rental is taken into account, this represents an annual saving of £285.
"We've already written to NTL-Virgin about their misleading advertising. The next step will be to contact the ASA and Trading Standards."
As part of the package, Virgin Media said its customers would also have access to one of Europe's largest TV-on-demand libraries, containing over 500 movies and thousands of hours of TV programmes such as 'Lost', 'Desperate Housewives', 'Doctor Who', 'Planet Earth' and 'The Vicar of Dibley', as well as highlights from the previous week's broadcast schedules.
Virgin Media said that the new monthly subscription fee would not be a special offer and "will not revert to higher pricing after a fixed period". A one-off installation fee of £25 applies to the offer.
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