11 Jan 2012
- Over four million households will have speeds doubled
- Next-generation speeds to catapult UK up international rankings
- 120Mb to become fastest broadband speed in the country
- Government welcomes broadband boost
Virgin Media (NASDAQ: VMED; LSE: VMED) has today announced
it is doubling the speeds of over four million of its
broadband customers and will be boosting its top speed to
120Mb, strengthening the company's position as the fastest
broadband provider in the UK1. This ambitious initiative
will help meet the growing demand for next generation
broadband and marks a step change in the UK's digital
development.
With the mass roll-out starting in February 2012, the
upgrade programme will continue over 18 months and is
expected to be complete by mid 2013. Subscribers to Virgin
Media's current 10Mb, 20Mb, 30Mb and 50Mb services will see
their speeds at least doubled, with 100Mb customers seeing
a significant increase to 120Mb. These speeds will ensure
customers get high quality access to the huge growth in new
online services.
The widespread availability of superfast broadband supports
the Government's ambitions of ensuring that consumers have
access to the best broadband services in Europe by 2015.
Virgin Media's upgrade programme forms part of its on-going
commitment to delivering the fastest broadband speeds in
the UK and will catapult Britain into the world's broadband
premier league.
Virgin Media chief executive officer, Neil Berkett, said:
"The burgeoning market for better connectivity has given us
an opportunity to transform the digital experience of
millions of our customers and to bring about a massive step
change in the number of UK consumers who have access to
exciting, next generation services. Virgin Media has a
track record of leading Britain's digital development and
this major initiative will meet the growing demand for
faster broadband as well as provide significantly more
value to our customers.
"The internet has become an integral part of our
social, work and family lives, so we think our customers
are going to love this. As people are increasingly doing
more online, and getting connected to the internet with
lots of different devices, having a fast, reliable
broadband service should not be a luxury. We want to make
sure that consumers have access to the best value broadband
service and that means a superfast connection."
Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I welcome this
announcement from Virgin Media; it will provide a great
boost for the economy and change the way many households,
consumers and businesses use the internet. Rolling out
superfast broadband across the country is a critical part
of our plan to upgrade the UK's infrastructure and build a
new and smarter economy."
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."
120Mb broadband will allow users to download an entire
music album in as little as 4.4 seconds and a High
Definition movie in around 5 minutes; but the service will
truly come into its own when several people are connected
to the internet at home at the same time. Faster broadband
gives users greater bandwidth to cope with the demands of
increasing numbers of internet connected devices.
Virgin Media's 100Mb service is, and its 120Mb service is
soon to be, the UK's fastest widely available broadband.
The speed upgrades will mean the following changes:
- 10Mb increased to 20Mb
- 20Mb and 30Mb increased to 60Mb
- 50Mb increased to 100Mb
- 100Mb increased to 120Mb
- Upstream speeds and traffic management fair usage amounts will be increased in proportion to the increase in downstream speed.
The modems provided as part of the upgrade programme are
enhanced and capable of receiving speeds of up to 400Mb.
Virgin Media leads the market in delivering the speeds that
customers expect and publishes its performance monthly at .
In November 2011, Virgin Media 10Mb customers received an
average of 9.55Mb. In the same period, Virgin Media's 30Mb
customers received an average of 30.1Mb. By contrast, the
average speed of 'up to 20Mb' and 'up to 24Mb' speeds from
BT, Sky and TalkTalk is between 7Mb and 9Mb and is typically
between 7Mb and 8Mb (source: Ofcom, 2011).
Virgin Media is the first provider of all four broadband, TV, mobile phone and home phone services in the UK.
The company delivers ultrafast broadband connections to over half of all UK homes, with speeds of up to 100Mb, and is expanding this cable network - the result of a multi-billion pound investment - to reach thousands more people across the country.
Virgin Media has developed the most advanced interactive television service, bringing together broadcast TV, thousands of hours of on demand programming and the best of the web in a single set-top box powered by TiVo. The company was the first to offer HD TV and 3D on demand to millions of UK households.
Virgin Media also operates the most popular virtual mobile network in the UK which, when launched, was the world's first such mobile phone service. It is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country.
Virgin Media Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market and the London Stock Exchange (VMED). For more information, go to .
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