Virgin Media in Broadband Network Revolution
# 15 July 2009, 11:32 by Cable Forum
Hot news out from Virgin Media today indicates that Virgin Media is preparing for a next generation Broadband revolution. They have spent the last 18 months conducting significant upgrades using the latest DOCSIS 3.0 technology. Virgin Media say to celebrate the completion of the network roll-out, they have announced a new pricing structure for its 50Mb service. From 1st September Virgin Media will reduce the monthly cost of its 50Mb service for new and existing customers to £28, when taken with a phone line, or £38 if taken as a sole product.
Virgin Media have insisted that the 50Mb service continues to be free of traffic management.
The good news doesn’t stop there, Virgin Media have stated that they will also start a new pilot to trial a range of upload speeds of up to 10Mb which will be a much welcomed bonus to bandwidth hungry users. This will give a much needed boost for applications which require a higher upstream, such as video conferencing, multiplayer gaming and home working.
Virgin Media is set to launch the “Freedom†netbook this week (See below), From the announcement: The bespoke laptop, available in black or Virgin red, has been optimised for 50Mb speeds and will be packaged with top of the line software. Both new and existing customers will be able to get the laptop at no additional charge when they take selected great value bundled packages.
Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said:
“As the first company to bring broadband to the UK ten years ago, the completion of our next-generation network marks another pioneering moment for internet access in the UK. We are delighted with the performance and reliability of our 50Mb service, and with the customer feedback. Now the roll-out is days from being complete, we’re ready to take 50Mb to the next stage of development and reinforce our leading position in the broadband market.â€
Virgin Media has also stated that it is currently piloting the real-world deployment of 200Mb speeds in Ashford, Kent.