November 1, 2010
Virgin Media’s 100Mb pre-registration saw more than 10,000 people sign up for the new service ready for when it launches in December.
 The pre-registration for the new 100Mb fibre broadband service was opened on Wednesday and in the first 24 hours it is believed that over 10,000 customers signed up proving that there is a huge demand for super fast fibre broadband services.
The new 100Mb broadband service will initially be available to around 200,000 homes when it launches in December, but it is expected that by mid-2012 that all of Virgin Medias fibre optic cable network which covers 12.7 million homes will have access to these super fast speeds.
There was some questions asked if there was enough demand for the super fast broadband when Virgin Media currently only have 90,000 subscribed to the 50Mb broadband package but they said that they believe there is.
Neil Berkett, the Virgin Media Chief Executive told the Guardian newspaper:
“When we think the market is ready we will upgrade the network accordingly and launch products”
“The brilliant thing is with the scale and power of our network we could run 400Mb today. 100,000 lapped up 50Mb in the past 12 months, that gives an indication that the market is ready for 100Mb.”
Virgin clearly want to lead the way with the fastest broadband, so it is little wonder that they are offering this faster broadband speed when their main rival, BT, are currently rolling out their own fibre broadband network across the country.
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October 27, 2010
Hot on the heels of the news we reported yesterday that Virgin Media were to launch their 100Mb broadband this week and today we see that they have indeed announced the roll out of their new flagship broadband speed.
Pre-registration is open from today for those who want to get in the super-fast fibre broadband lane of 100Mb broadband which is double the headline speed that Virgin was offering of 50Mb, it will also offer upload speeds of 10Mb.
It is expected that it will take 18 months for the roll out of their upgrades across their network which they say will cover more than 12.7 million UK homes and offer next generation broadband that is nearly 20 times the current UK average broadband speed. The new service will go on sale in December for the first areas to be upgraded to it and then an extensive roll-out plan will extend the product across the Virgin Media network.
The chief executive of Virgin Media, Neil Berkett, said:
“The launch of our 100Mb service is a significant milestone in the UK’s broadband evolution and a vivid illustration of the power of our next generation network. From establishing the UK’s first ever broadband service in 2000 to the launch of 100Mb in 2010, in the space of just ten years, Virgin Media has led the greatest developments in digital Britain. The world of possibilities that broadband will enable is set to explode and we’re excited about the innovations we can bring to consumers in the next decade.”
The Virgin Media 100Mb broadband will cost £35 when bought with a phone line (£11.99) or £45 if bought as a stand alone service. There will be a £30 activation and £40 installation charge on top of this. It does come with a new “SuperHub” which not only a router that is designed to be power-efficient but is also capable of delivering broadband speeds up to 400Mb. A fair use policy will apply for the unlimited usage on the package.
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October 26, 2010
100Mb broadband from Virgin Media could arrive this week if Prime Minister David Cameron is to be believed.
The Prime Minister said during a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference that Virgin Media would be launching a super fast broadband 100Mb broadband service this week.
What Mr Cameron said was:
“…we’ll work with utility companies to get more investment in our energy, with construction companies on our roads, with the telecommunications industry on broadband. This collaboration is already working. Virgin Media is rolling out a new superfast broadband service this week.”
He soon followed up and said about the 100Mb broadband connection.
Virgin Media have not confirmed or denied the date that their new 100Mb broadband service is due to launch but it would be quite a safe bet that it will be some time this week if the prime minister is talking about it’s launch.
Last week it came out that a BT 110Mb fibre broadband service would be launched in March next year, with the cynical amongst us thinking it was to get “one up” on Virgin Media to be able to say that they are offering the fastest broadband in the UK.
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August 17, 2010
Virgin Media have launched a free malware defence campaign to help protect customers computers from malware such as viruses, trojans and spyware.
 The free service will be available customers who have Virgin Media broadband and be in adition to the free security package that customers already receive with their broadband service.
The executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, Jon James said:
We’re writing to customers we’ve been told may be infected by malware, encouraging them to check their computers have an up to date security package, such as Virgin Media Security, and offering advice on simple and free ways to disinfect their computer. For those who need a little bit more help we also have our fee-based Digital Home Support service which fixes problems using the latest cutting edge remote control technology.”
“Malware doesn’t just affect computers – it can affect lives. It’s time for ISPs to go beyond the basics and do whatever they can to help protect their customers from this growing problem. Customers may think they are protected, but with the ease by which malware can infect a computer – even just by visiting a innocent-looking website – we’re going to do whatever we can to help defend our customers from serious consequences such as identity theft, and even banking fraud.”
Virgin Media will be working with organisation and groups such as The Shadowserver Foundation who monitor the spread of malware around the internet.
Those customers who Virgin Media are informed are likely to be infected with malware will be sent a letter from Virgin Media which will tell them how to scan their computer and also remove viruses. They will also be given the details for how to sign up (at a cost) to Virgin’s home support service which is able to access customers computers remotely to remove malware.
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June 24, 2010
Virgin Media are looking to increase broadband speeds to 400Mb.
 By the end of the year Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) plan to be offering 100Mb fibre broadband to it’s customers, this is double the current headline speed that they currently have available of 50Mb of which there are around 70,000 customers signed up to it. They are also already doing trials and test on 200Mb broadband but it seems that they have even faster targets that they want to strive to be able to offer. Virgin Media already have a new modem lined up to be available by the end of the year that is able to deal with 400Mb broadband.
Virgin are already in front of BT when it comes to offering the fastest broadband speeds, and with BT’s own fibre broadband network only going to be offering 40Mb to most people Virgin are making sure that they keep their noses well out in front in the fast lane.
BT’s fibre broadband network is only offering fibre broadband to the cabinet (FTTC) and then from there it will rely on copper wires to take the broadband that final distance to the house and as such BT are offering headline speeds of40Mb for their fibre broadband, however Virgin offer their fibre broadband direct to the house and as such are able to offer faster speeds as their whole connection is done with fibre.
Only a few selected places, mainly new build locations are where BT will be installing fibre directly to the house but for the majority of people it will just be FTTC.
Virgin Media currently only cover around half of the UK but are looking at extending this with the use of using existing telephone cables to help reach other parts of the country with it’s fibre broadband, an estimated 1 million homes around the country in more rural areas could be reached from doing this.
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June 2, 2010
Virgin Media are giving new subscribers access to their fibre optic broadband network for just £5 per month for an introductory time.
The new online only offer from Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) is available to new broadband subscribers to it’s 10Mb fibre broadband service which offers customers unlimited downloads, free wireless router, free internet security and unlimited UK weekend landline calls with the Virgin phone line which is charged at £11.99 per month.
After the 3 month introductory offer is over the price reverts back to the standard price of £12.50 per month for the broadband.
Users who don’t take out a Virgin Phone line can take an introductory offer of £15 per month for 3 months for the broadband which will then revert back to £20 per month after the 3 months.
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May 17, 2010
Virgin Media the UK Cable operator has brought in some online offers that gives customers fibre broadband at reduced prices for 3 months when taken with a Virgin phone line.
This means that the Virgin Broadband (www.virginmedia.com) L package which offers 10Mb fibre broadband is available for just £5 per month for the first 3 months, there is also discounts on the 20Mb broadband and their headline 50Mb broadband that they offer.
The full deals and what each one offers are listed below:
- L (10Mb broadband) – Save £22.50
- £5 per month for 3 months then £12.50 per month (when taken with Virgin Phone line for £11.99 per month) or
- £15 per month for 3 months then £20 per month if only broadband taken
- 10Mb broadband speed
- Unlimited downloads (fair use policy)
- 12 month contract
- Free Internet Security
- Free Wireless N Router
- Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles when taken with a Virgin Phone line.
- XL (20Mb broadband) – Save £30
- £10 per month for 3 months then £20 per month (when taken with Virgin Phone line for £11.99 per month) or
- £25 per month for 3 months then £30 per month if only broadband taken
- 20Mb broadband speed
- Unlimited downloads (fair use policy)
- 12 month contract
- Free Internet Security
- Free Wireless N Router
- Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles when taken with a Virgin Phone line.
- XXL (50Mb broadband) – Save £39
- £15 per month for 3 months then £28 per month (when taken with Virgin Phone line for £11.99 per month) or
- £33 per month for 3 months then £38 per month if only broadband taken
- 50Mb broadband speed
- Unlimited downloads (fair use policy)
- 12 month contract
- Free Internet Security
- Free Wireless N Router
- Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles when taken with a Virgin Phone line.
The discounted Virgin Media fibre broadband offer runs until 30 June 2010.
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April 28, 2010
Virgin Media added 72,300 new cable broadband customers in the first quarter of 2010 according to their latest results out today.
The new subscribers joined Virgin Media at a faster rate than ever before, so much so that they had a 53% increase compared to the previous quarter, even more good news for Virgin is how popular their bundled services are.
They currently have 61.9% of customers on triple-play services, such as broadband, Digital TV & Phone, with 11% on quad-play services.
Virgin Media broadband is available with a headline speed of 50Mb.
Virgin Media Chief Executive Officer, Neil Berkett said:
“This quarter, we added cable customers at our fastest ever rate. A combination of higher gross additions, low churn and increased ARPU enabled us to deliver year-on-year cable revenue growth for the fourth consecutive quarter. This has driven the growth in total revenue and, with solid cost control, a double digit year-on-year increase in OCF for the second successive quarter.
“We are developing our services to exploit our natural network advantage, both now and in the future. More customers than ever before are choosing faster broadband and every day millions of our customers are enjoying the benefits of the video-on-demand revolution we are leading. On average our customers pressed “play” more than two million times a day, every day in the last three months. The latest addition to our set-top box range, the V HD Box, will also enable more Virgin Media customers to enjoy HD television without an on-going monthly fee.”
Earlier this week Virgin Media launched a new online movie service called “Virgin Media Online Movies” which allows users to watch hundreds of movies online, on-demand. 2 big titles to start the service with include “Fantastic Mr Fox” and “District 9″.
The service will allow users to watch the films as many times as they want over a 48 hour period and even stop, pause and rewind the films. It even allows the film to be watched wherever the user logs on, be that at home or at work!
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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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