Broadband News
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Broadband fibre speed boost: Virgin to launch 100Mb
25 Feb 2010 | 10.51 Europe/London
Virgin Media announced this morning that it is to start rolling out a 100Mb commercial service before the end of the year. The ISP also claimed that it is extending a small trial of 200Mb connections.
Quoting figures from SamKnows’ Performance Monitoring service which, in partnership with Ofcom, measures access speeds across the country, Virgin claimed it would be the first national ISP to offer a connection 24 times faster than the national average – the SamKnows and Ofcom research revealed last summer the average sped in the UK is a little over 4Mb.
Virgin Media further boasts this will mean that by the end of 2010, it will have increased its top tier speed tenfold, from 10Mb to 100Mb in two years.
100Mb roll out plans?
However, there was no detail given on exactly when a 100Mb service would launch or where. It would be expected that, like any network upgrade, it would be rolled out from a set number of start points, but the ISP has not given any detail on where these might be, nor when they may be activated.
There was, though, an announcement that a small trial in Kent of 200Mb connections would be extended to Coventry where the ISP will be looking for volunteer households to try out the new service.
The motivation for the ‘quad’ play operator (fixed phone, mobile broadband and tv) pushing speeds up from its current top tier of up to 50Mb is pretty clear when its official statement quotes that its customers, on a 100Mb connection, will be able to download an HD movie in just over seven minutes compared to nearly an hour and three quarters on today’s average speed connection. Virgin Media's chief executive officer, Neil Berkett, boasted the move will help the UK keep up with other regions where fast, fibre connections are more widely available.
"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," he said.
One in a hundred on 50Mb
News of the 100Mb service rolling out before the end of 2010 and the widening of the ISP’s 200Mb trial came as Virgin Media gave its fourth quarter results (for the last three months of 2009).
The high points revealed 98% of its 3.8m fibre customers receive a service of 10Mb or above and that it has signed up 63,600 new cable and 12,500 non-cable broadband subscribers, an improvement of 11% over the equivalent period last year.
Also subscriptions to its current top tier 50Mb are up 80% between the third and fourth quarters of 2009. However, they only number 41,000 in total, just over 1% of its fibre broadband connections.
Quoting figures from SamKnows’ Performance Monitoring service which, in partnership with Ofcom, measures access speeds across the country, Virgin claimed it would be the first national ISP to offer a connection 24 times faster than the national average – the SamKnows and Ofcom research revealed last summer the average sped in the UK is a little over 4Mb.
Virgin Media further boasts this will mean that by the end of 2010, it will have increased its top tier speed tenfold, from 10Mb to 100Mb in two years.
100Mb roll out plans?
However, there was no detail given on exactly when a 100Mb service would launch or where. It would be expected that, like any network upgrade, it would be rolled out from a set number of start points, but the ISP has not given any detail on where these might be, nor when they may be activated.
There was, though, an announcement that a small trial in Kent of 200Mb connections would be extended to Coventry where the ISP will be looking for volunteer households to try out the new service.
The motivation for the ‘quad’ play operator (fixed phone, mobile broadband and tv) pushing speeds up from its current top tier of up to 50Mb is pretty clear when its official statement quotes that its customers, on a 100Mb connection, will be able to download an HD movie in just over seven minutes compared to nearly an hour and three quarters on today’s average speed connection. Virgin Media's chief executive officer, Neil Berkett, boasted the move will help the UK keep up with other regions where fast, fibre connections are more widely available.
"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," he said.
One in a hundred on 50Mb
News of the 100Mb service rolling out before the end of 2010 and the widening of the ISP’s 200Mb trial came as Virgin Media gave its fourth quarter results (for the last three months of 2009).
The high points revealed 98% of its 3.8m fibre customers receive a service of 10Mb or above and that it has signed up 63,600 new cable and 12,500 non-cable broadband subscribers, an improvement of 11% over the equivalent period last year.
Also subscriptions to its current top tier 50Mb are up 80% between the third and fourth quarters of 2009. However, they only number 41,000 in total, just over 1% of its fibre broadband connections.
100Mb/s with 3Mb/s upload no doubt! Bleh!
25 Feb 2010 | 13.02 Europe/London