| 14/01/2012
 Virgin
Media doubles broadband speeds
Dated 11 January 2012. Virgin Media promises free broadband
speed upgrade
Virgin Media has revealed plans to double broadband speeds to its
four million customers, with the top speed reaching 120Mbps over the
next 18 months. The company says the move - which it claims will mean
Virgin Media offers the UK's fastest broadband speeds - will be free
for customers.
The company says the roll-out will begin in February 2012, with
four million homes upgraded to faster speeds by the middle of 2013.
Virgin Media says subscribers to its current 10Mbps, 20Mbps, 30Mbps
and 50Mbps broadband services will see their speeds doubled. Customers
already signed to Virgin Media's 100Mbps service will get a less
generous boost to 120Mps - though Virgin Media says this will be
the fastest broadband speed in the UK.
Virgin Media's broadband speed boost
The company says it will be providing new modems as part of the
roll-out - and these have the capacity to eventually receive speeds
of up to 400Mbps.
According to Virgin Media, the speed upgrades will see customers
halve the time it takes to download data from the internet:
10Mbps increased to 20Mbps
20Mbps and 30Mbps increased to 60Mbps
50Mbps increased to 100Mbps
100Mbps increased to 120Mbps
The company says it plans to increase upstream speeds - how quickly
data can be sent via a home PC over broadband back out to the internet
- in line with the upgrade.
It also plans to extend the amount of data it allows before traffic
management - known as broadband throttling - kicks in; when subscribers
download too much data during peak usage times, such as weekends
and evenings.
Virgin Media says the new service will significantly lower download
times. Subscribers to its 120Mbps service will be able to download
a film in less than five minutes, and a music album in less than
five seconds. Simultaneous home users sharing a single broadband
connection will also benefit, says the company, with less chance
of broadband bottlenecks when several devices are connected to the
internet.
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy
Hunt, said: "Faster broadband speeds are great for customers
and great for business, which is why our policy is to deliver superfast
broadband to 90% of the country by 2015. Virgin Media’s plans to
double broadband speeds are really exciting and we applaud their
ambition."
Superfast broadband
The move comes on the heels of government efforts to roll out superfast
broadband across the UK by 2015, with the aim of 90% of UK homes
accessing superfast broadband of at least 24Mbps within three years.
The remaining 10% of homes should have access to broadband speeds
of around 2Mbps, according to the government. |
