Last month, we highlighted that Virgin Media was trialling in several locations, new measures to traffic shape its heavy broadband users. We also raised concerns that Virgin Media was still advertising its broadband service as a ‘No download limits’ product. In the letter Virgin Media are still claiming customers can download lots and they aren’t limiting downloads. Virgin Media are clearly missing the point.

The point is that they are advertising a certain speed, customers are paying for that level of speed. So if a customer downloads over a limit or threshold, their speed is reduced. Which ever way you look at it, it is a download limit. A no download limit service dictates that there are no limits or no thresholds whatsoever.

We have managed to obtain a copy of the letter that will be sent:-

We have approached Virgin Media and invited them to comment on this.

[Update] Virgin Media have got back to us this evening and a VM spokesperson responds by stating:-

“We are writing to some of our customers to let them know about changes to our traffic management policy. As part of this educational exercise we are letting customers know what the changes mean to them and why they may see their speeds reduced for short periods at certain times of the day.

A small percentage of our customers are using up more than their fair share of network resources which affects the service other customers receive. Our goal is to ensure the majority of customers receive the quality of service they expect from our fibre-optic broadband, therefore we traffic manage the heaviest users at certain times of the day to manage this demand.”