Virgin Media, the British cable operator, is weighing up the future of its business telecoms division, with a sale of the unit remaining on the agenda.

The cable operator is believed to be assessing how NTL:Telewest Business, which last quarter generated revenue of £168.8 million, fits in with its core business of offering broadband, television and phone services to consumers.

Industry sources said that last year it held talks with Kingston Communications about a possible sale. Consideration of the idea comes as Virgin Media also reviews plans to launch its own television channels. Sir Richard Branson, the group’s largest shareholder, is keen to draw up plans to launch entertainment, sports and news channels.

The discussions are at an early stage and it is not clear how far Virgin can introduce such services, particularly in sports, where it owns few rights, although it has had discussions with the BBC about providing a branded news channel.

Virgin Media does control entertainment content through its existing portfolio of channels, including Living TV and Bravo. The company also runs a video-on-demand service with rights to programmes such as Lost.

The company’s plans are likely to be a key question at this week’s quarterly results. Virgin will also be under pressure at the results to show that it can expand subscriber numbers after its spat with BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster 39.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times. Sky News, Sky One and Sky Sports News were withdrawn after a row over the terms of Virgin’s agreement with Sky to show them on its own platform.

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