Fibre-optic broadband provider Virgin Media has announced that its new music download and streaming service will be called MusicFish.

Marketing magazine has reported that the new platform, which will offer unlimited streaming services alongside downloads for a subscription fee, is expected to be active by July this year.

It is hoped that the service, which was originally announced by the company in June last year, will offer consumers an alternative to similar services from Sky, as well as iTunes.

A Virgin Media spokesman told the publication that the company was "making good progress" on the development of the platform, particularly in talks to secure the catalogues of record labels for the service.

News of MusicFish's upcoming launch has come after Virgin Media confirmed plans to use the new CView software developed by IT firm Detica to measure levels of illegal filesharing taking place on its network.

The company is the first broadband provider to sign up to use the program.