Virgin Media 100Mbps Broadband Reaches 1m Homes

Virgin Media’s 100Mbps fibre optic network now passes one million homes in the UK, offering “ultrafast” broadband access to around one in 26 households up and down the country.

The service reportedly allows the user to download a high quality film in less that two minutes, or several users to access and view high-quality content simultaneously. The 100Mbps service also provides 10Mbps upload speeds, enabling customers to easily share high-bandwidth content, such as live HD video.

“Reaching the one million home milestone is a hugely important step in ensuring consumers are able to keep up with the latest developments in this digitally connected world,” said Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media. “We had more than 10,000 registrations on the first day we unveiled 100Mb so there is real desire for better broadband and all the wonderful things you can do with a fast connection.”

No speed degradation

Virgin Media first announced the high-end service back in February last year before officially launching it in December. The company has also demonstrated 200Mbps broadband.

Virgin’s fibre optic network is based on the EuroDOCSIS3 standard, which the company claims is not affected by distance-related speed degradation, and allows it to deliver a consistent broadband experience regardless of where customers live.

The broadband service costs £45 per month as a stand-alone service or £35 when purchased with a phone line (currently £12.99).

It should be noted that the headline figure of one million refers to the number of households that can connect to the 100Mbps fibre network, not the number of people who have actually subscribed.

Virgin hopes to complete its 100Mbps fibre roll out in mid-2012, at which point it says half of the country will be able to access the service. Prospective customers can check whether the service is available in their area by entering their postcode on the Virgin Media website.

Inconsistent experience

Earlier this month, Ofcom criticised Internet service providers for using the term ‘up to’ in broadband advertising, highlighting that very few people are able to achieve the headline speeds.

Virgin’s new service offers download speeds of ‘up to’ 100Mbps, suggesting that many customers will not have that level of service. However, in Ofcom’s tests of average download speeds, Virgin achieved the best results for its 10Mbps, 20Mbps and 50Mbps services.

“Ofcom’s latest report is yet another damning indictment that consumers continue to be treated like mugs and misled by ISPs that simply cannot deliver on their advertised speed claims,” said Virgin’s  James, at the time.

Virgin Media’s total cable network now passes 13 million homes across the UK all told. As well as investing in the expansion of this underground network, Virgin is also exploring non-traditional ways of expanding its network to rural areas, and is conducting trials using telegraph poles and electricity poles to deliver broadband access to more remote parts of the country.

In its Digital Agenda published last year, the European Commission said that half of EU citizens households should be subscribing to connections of 100Mbps or higher by 2020. The British government has also shown its commitment to providing fast broadband access, investing £530 million in broadband rollout and pledging to make the UK the best place for super-fast broadband in Europe by 2015.