Martin Gardner.co.uk

Virgin Media has announced that it will significantly cut the cost of its 50Mb super-fast broadband as well as beginning trials on 10Mb upstream.

The cable company has been steadily working towards extending the 50Mb service, the UK’s fastest, throughout its network, and now that is complete they are offering price cuts for customers. And, with the project finished, Virgin Media is now trialling a 10Mb/s upstream service.
“Virgin Media will also start a new pilot to trial a range of upload speeds of up to 10Mb – much faster than the download speeds of most ADSL connections,” said Virgin Media’s release.

“In addition to trialling the technical capabilities of the DOCSIS 3.0 network, the trial will explore the demand for higher upstream speeds for bandwidth hungry families, on services such as video conferencing, multiplayer gaming and home working.”
50Mb price cuts

Perhaps more pressingly the 50Mb price cuts, which come soon after BT announced its continued foray into fibre optic networks, will affect new and existing customers.

“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,” explained Virgin.

This represents a change from £35 with a phone line and £46 in the previous pricing scheme.

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.”