Virgin Media, the UK’s leading internet service
provider, today announced it would begin the roll-out of a 100Mb
broadband service, the fastest available commercial product in the
UK, by the end of 2010.
Virgin Media customers will be the first to get broadband speeds more
than 24 times the average speed provided by other ISPs. The new
speed tier is designed for tech-savvy users who want the very best
the internet has to offer, and will act as Virgin Media’s
flagship product in a strong portfolio of broadband speeds.
Virgin Media
already leads the market for next generation broadband services in
the UK and will have increased its top broadband tier from 20Mb
to 100Mb in less than two years. By leveraging the technological
superiority of its fibre optic cable network, the company has brought
next generation internet speeds to 12.6 million homes throughout the
country and is the only mass-market provider of ultrafast speeds
in the UK. In addition, Virgin Media’s cable network means it is
able to deliver very close to advertised headline speeds, unlike
its ADSL competitors, or that claimed by other operators’
embryonic investment in fibre.
Virgin Media’s chief executive
officer, Neil Berkett, said: “There is nothing we can’t do with
our fibre optic cable network, and the upcoming launch of our
flagship 100Mb service will give our customers the ultimate
broadband experience. Just as we led the way by launching the UK’s
first ever next generation service, we want to keep giving our
customers the very best broadband available, by investing in
technological innovation and transforming the experience they have when
they are online. The launch of Virgin Media’s 100Mb service will
be a historic moment and will mean the UK will be comparable to
other leading broadband nations.”
The 100Mb
service will allow users to download a music album in as little as
5 seconds, an hour long TV show in 31 seconds and an HD movie in 7
minutes 25 seconds. This is significantly faster than the time it
would take a person using the fastest speeds on offer from
competitors where a music album could be downloaded on average in 1
minute 15 seconds, an hour long TV show in 7 minutes 18 seconds and
an HD movie in 1 hour 44 minutes.
In another
major development for the broadband sector, Virgin Media will
extend its 200Mb pilot to Coventry where it will look to recruit
hundreds of customers to test the internet with this supercharged speed.
The 200Mb pilot, which began in May 2009 in Kent, has been
focusing on future technologies and applications, such as home
teleconferencing and downloading HD programmes on-demand, which
are likely to require fast speeds.
Virgin Media
has 4.1 million broadband customers, with most on cable broadband,
and currently offers 10Mb, 20Mb and 50Mb services.
