March 11, 2010
Virgin Media are to look to look up instead of down when it comes to installing some of it’s fibre optic cable by using telegraph poles.
 Plans by Virgin Media, the UK’s largest cable operator are to use telegraph poles and existing ducts to deliver it’s cable broadband services that will be able to deliver broadband speeds up to 50Mb and also it ’s digital TV services if a trial of the technology to Woolhampton in Berkshire goes well.
Virgin Media currently have their current fibre cable network underground which can prove expensive to deploy with the digging up of roads, however up to this point they have not been able to do any different as there are planning guidelines which stop large scale overhead deployment of cable.
The government is looking at the possibility of changing these guidelines which would then open up the possibility for Virgin Media to do large scale overhead deployment of their cable network which Virgin Media estimate could benefit around 1 million homes.
Virgin Medias Chief Executive, Neil Berkett said:
“This unique trial will allow us to understand the possibilities of aerial deployment and may provide an exciting new way to extend next generation broadband services. With everything from BBC iPlayer to YouTube increasingly demanding reliable ultrafast broadband speeds, we’re keen to ensure that all communities, in towns, cities and villages right across the UK, stand to benefit.”
The government are keen to get next-generation digital services out to rural communities and allowing Virgin Media to look up instead of down could be one way to help with rolling out fibre broadband to more rural areas.
Virgin are already planning on extending their network to another 500,000 homes that would then be able to access it’s current top rated XXL broadband service offering 50Mb. There are currently 12.6 million homes in the UK that are able to connect to the Virgin Media network.
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March 8, 2010
Virgin Media customers are to be exclusively able to watch Film4HD from this summer.
A deal between Channel 4 and Virgin Media has been agreed that will mean that Film4HD will be exclusively available only to Virgin Media customers when it launches later this summer on their digital TV service.
Also available to Virgin Media customers will be E4HD which gets many popular TV programmes such as Glee, Skins, Hollyoaks, Desperate Housewives, 90210 and Ugly Betty. The E4HD channel is due to launch on Virgin Media in April this year.
The executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, Cindy Rose, said:
“Channel 4 has a great track record in delivering innovative and compelling content and we’re delighted to bring some of their very best films and most popular programmes to our customers in stunning HD. As more and more households become HD-ready, we’re lining up content that makes the most of High Definition and are making HD available to all our of customers for no extra fee.“
V irgin Media already have a range of HD channels available and are due to get more added. Some of their current HD channels include: C4HD, BBC HD, National Geographic HD, ESPN HD, Discovery HD and Eurosport HD.
Virgin Media XL TV customers will be able to access the HD channels at no extra costs with BBC HD and 4HD being available to all Virgin Media digital TV customers.
To be able to receive the HD channels Virgin Media customers will need a V+ HD digital recorder which is needed to decode the channels, a HDMI cable to connect to a HD-ready TV.
Some of the new Film4 HD films expected to be shown soon are Slumdog Millionaire, Go Lucky and Looking For Eric as well as other Hollywood blockbusters and many more.
Virgin Media also have a hundreds of hours of HD on Demand programmes available to Virgin Media customers as well as the BBC iPlayer which is delivered through their cable network.
Virgin Media have recently also announced that they are to start offering 100Mb fibre broadband (Read: Virgin to start roll out of 100Mb fibre broadband) meaning that they will be able to deliver far more content such as broadband and HD Television at the same time.
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February 25, 2010
Virgin Media are set to start the roll out of their own 100Mb fibre broadband and help take broadband in the UK up to the next level.
The news comes hot on the heels of yesterdays announcement by Fibrecity who announced the three broadband providers who would be offering the residents of Bournemouth their own 100Mb fibre broadband services.
The news that virgin Media are to start rolling out a 100Mb fibre optic broadband service will also be a blow to big rivals BT, who are currently rolling out their own fibre network “BT Infinity” that offers broadband speeds up to 40Mb.
Also, with Virgin already having it’s network available to around half of UK homes and businesses it gives them good footing to deploy their new technology to double their current headline speed of 50Mb to 100Mb.
Thew new speed increases come as part of Virgin’s DOCSIS 3 network which is already delivering broadband speed of up to 200Mb in Ashford, Kent where the initial trials are taking place. These trials are set to be extended now to Coventry where the trials will continue to focus on future technologies such as teleconferencing and downloading HD programmes on demand.
The other exciting news with this is that Virgin believe that the DOCSIS 3 network will be capable of broadband speeds up to 400Mb.
Neil Berkett, Virgin Media’s Chief Executive said:
“There is nothing we can’t do with our fibre optic cable network, and the upcoming launch of our flagship 100Mb service will give our customers the ultimate broadband experience. Just as we led the way by launching the UK’s first ever next generation service, we want to keep giving our customers the very best broadband available, by investing in technological innovation and transforming the experience they have when they are online. 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.“
Although this will likely be a bit of a blow to BT, as consumers hopefully we will see the benefit as the battle to offer the fastest broadband continues between Virgin Media and BT.
BT won’t want to stay a long way behind Virgin Media but unless they perhaps up their ambitions they could well be stuck behind, especially as Virgin Media have funded this with their own money and not been asking for tax payers money to fund it like BT was asking for to help with the roll out of their own fibre network.
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January 20, 2010
Virgin Media are starting to inspect the traffic that goes through their fibre broadband network to see how much of it could be illegal.
The Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) is being provided by Detica and currently does not take note of the IP address of the users it monitors and those who are downloading files illegally and so won’t be used at present to target offenders.
The technology is reportedly able to see what type of files are being downloaded by users and file sharers and able to match them up to a database if they are illegal downloads for example of music or films or if they are just personal photo albums exchanged between family members.
At this stage it is just being used so Virgin Media can see how much illegal traffic is going through it’s Virgin Broadband fibre network, although there is nothing ruling out that in future it being used to target those guilty of Internet piracy.
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November 6, 2009
The latest set of broadband speed test results for October 2009 compiled by broadband.co.uk still have Virgin Media leading the way with the fastest broadband speeds.
The results are compiled from broadband speed tests that are performed each month for 10 of the most popular broadband providers in the UK.
Virgin were head and shoulders in front by averaging a broadband download speed of 7.328Mb and 2.3Mb faster than O2 & Be Broadband (they use the same infrastructure) who came in second place with 5.019Mb.
Virgin are expected to be at the top as they have a fibre optic broadband network and have a broadband package with a headline speed of 50Mb, we do anticipate that when BT’s fibre network is rolled out that the gap will close slightly.
Coming in slowest was AOL broadband who recorded an average broadband speed of just 2.183Mb with the average across the 10 broadband providers being 4.328Mb.
The broadband provider and their average broadband speed for each are listed below.
Virgin Media – 7.260Mb
O2 ( Be Broadband ) – 5.019Mb
Eclipse Internet – 3.899Mb
Sky Broadband – 3.512Mb
TalkTalk – 3.357Mb
Orange – 3.199
BT – 2.920Mb
Tiscali – 2.770Mb
PlusNet – 2.559Mb
AOL – 2.183Mb
For the first time Virgin Media managed to average over 8Mb broadband speed (8.303Mb) for speed tests taken between midnight and 8am.
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October 29, 2009
Virgin Media broadband subscribers increased to over 4 million in the last quarter due to an impressive 39,000 new subscribers to the fibre broadband provider.
Of their 4 million broadband subscribers 72% now have an up to 10Mb broadband package or faster which equates to 2.7 million. Year-on-year Virgin Media have increased those on 10Mb or faster broadband by 157%.
It is also good to see that customers are getting the most for their money when it comes to their communications services, with 60% of Virgin Media customers having broadband, TV and home phone bundles which help reduce the costs. 10% of their customers go the whole hog and take all 4 of the services from Virgin Media which in addition to the broadband, digital TV and home telephone also includes mobile phone.
The next quarter may also bring positive news from the fibre optic broadband provider, their 50Mb broadband had 20,000 subscribers at the end of the quarter, with Virgin reducing the price of the 50Mb broadband in September it is likely that they will get many more sign up to their fastest service. In September to October since the price reduction they have achieved over 40% of new subscribers to the 50Mb broadband as new customers and going to show that there is a big appetite for faster broadband speeds in the UK.
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August 14, 2009
Virgin Media are the latest broadband provider to offer free broadband after we have seen BE Broadband and BT Broadband offer the same in recent days.
The Virgin Media broadband offer is for 3 months free broadband when customers take out a combined package of Broadband L and Phone M services. Originally Virgin were offering an introductory rate of £5 per month for this but has wiped the £5 per month to make it free for 3 months. If you combine the other offer currently running of the Virgin Media free installation offer (worth £30) then new customers can make a saving of £45.
After a customer has had their 3 months free broadband they will then revert to the standard charges of £14 plus £11 line rental so a total of £25 per month.
The Broadband L package gives customers a 10Mb fibre broadband connection with unlimited usage (fair use policy applies). The Phone M part of the package gives customers free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines. Customers will also receive a free wireless router to use to connect their broadband with.
Virgin are also to reduce the price of their 50Mb broadband (view here) starting on the 1st September for any customers who want to have super fast broadband.
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August 12, 2009
Fibre Optic broadband provider Virgin Media have launched a new customer offer of free installation for new customers who take a broadband only package or a combined package.
The previous fee was £30 to have Virgin broadband installed so a nice saving can be made, although the free installation offer is only available online via the website and it is unknown if it is a permanent or just a limited time offer.
There is also another offer running alongside this of £20 credit for anyone who purchases a triple play service online of Broadband, TV & telephone on a 12 month contract, this is due to end on 30th September 2009.
Virgin Media are a fibre broadband provider that offers broadband speeds of up to 50Mb.
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August 5, 2009
Virgin Media have increased the available broadband speed for it’s customers who can only get broadband via their National Broadband product and not via Virgin’s own cable network.
The National Broadband service is what Virgin connect it’s customers to broadband with when they are not in an area that is covered by the Virgin’s own fibre broadband network which is around 50% coverage of the UK.
The National Broadband service is offered via a LLU ADSL2+ connection which has been advertising broadband speeds up to a maximum of 16Mb and this has now been boosted to a maximum of 20Mb.
Virgin has now set out what it calls a “National Broadband Best Speed Promise” that describes their advertised broadband speeds as follows “the fastest broadband we can give you up to a superfast 20Mbits/sec” which is designed to clear up the confusion customers get when looking at advertised broadband speeds. Basically it just means that they will give you the fastest broadband speed they can give you up to 20Mb, and in our opinion is just padding out the “Up To” words with a few more.
Virgin should be commended for making a start it trying to address the who “Up To” advertised speed issue that has caused confusion with many, with many people on “Up to 8Mb” broadband connections receiving far less than this not knowing why. The reason being that the further away from the telephone exchange a customer is the slower the broadband that they will receive.
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July 17, 2009
Virgin Media are set to target the top 2% of its customers who use the most bandwidth on it’s network. Virgin believes these customers are detrimental to it’s network and other users. Currently it has been the top 5% of users who have been targeted but Virgin are now going to concentrate on the top 2% who they say use upload and download unusually large amounts.
The “penalty” for being in this group is likely to be the throttling of their broadband connection during peak hours and thus reducing the bandwidth available to them.
The following has been added to the Acceptable Use Policy that Virgin Media have on their site:
3.2.1. Virgin Media does not place a limit on monthly network usage. However, in isolated cases (currently less than 0.1% of customers) where excessive network usage at busy times (9am to 9pm) is having a detrimental effect on other users, we may need to take appropriate action in accordance with the terms of this AUP to notify users of the impact they are having and require them to move some of their activity into the less busy period.
The customers who are likely to be affected are those who use P2P and file sharing which use up allot of bandwidth.
The reduction of targeting the top 5% down to top 2% is likely to have come about with Virgin completing it’s DOCSIS 3 network which is offering 50Mb broadband and has tripled the available bandwidth they have available.
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