Virgin Media Offers Customers 100Mbps Broadband

Virgin Media has officially launched its 100Mbps service in four regions of the UK, giving customers the chance to experience superfast broadband.

Virgin Media first announced the high-end service all the way back in February, saying it would be launched by the end of this year. The company then demonstrated 200Mbps broadband technology in March.

In October Prime Minister David Cameron let slip in a speech that the 100Mbps Virgin Media service could be about to be launched, but Virgin stuck to its original plan, and began offering the service to customers on Tuesday.

Official Launch

As well as providing 100Mbps download speeds, the service will also deliver 10Mbps upload speeds. The package comes with a new ‘energy efficient’ combined modem and wireless ‘N’ router, with the potential to deliver speeds of up to 400Mbps as new services roll out in the future.

Virgin Media said that a typical family will be able to get the new ultrafast service for as little as £35 a month when bought with a phone line, or just £45 per month when bought as a solo product. Customers can enter their postcode here, to see if they can receive the service.

A Virgin spokesman explained to eWEEK Europe that the 100Mbps service will be available across Virgin Media’s entire network, but initially is available in four areas, namely Heckmondwike (Yorkshire), Farnborough (Hampshire), Colchester (Essex) and Barry (South Wales).

Service Uptake

More areas will be added throughout 2011 and up to mid-2012 when the roll-out will be completed.

The spokesman said it was too early to give any details about actual uptake of the 100Mbps service, but did tell eWEEK Europe UK that the company was ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the expressions of interest (especially among customers currently receiving 50Mbps) when it first began offering pre registrations in October.

According to the spokesman, Virgin Media received 10,000 registrations of interest within the first day of announcing it (in October).

Virgin Media has previously led calls previously for an end to what it termed the ‘broadband con’ about the use of the term “up to” by ISPs when describing broadband speeds. The call angered rival BT.

BT for its own part is planning to launch its own high-end broadband service capable of speeds of up to 110Mbps, in March 2011. The UK carrier continues to rollout fibre national, and has created a competition, ‘Race to Infinity’, whereby customers can compete for a fibre broadband rollout in their part of the country.