29 July 2008
Broadband provider Virgin Media has announced plans to roll out super-fast broadband services offering speeds of up to 200 megabytes per second (mps) by 2012. The news follows BT's recent proclamation that it will offer fibre-based broadband with top speeds of 100mps to ten million homes by this date. Virgin Media is already investing in a fibre network delivering 50mps broadband, but it insists that by freeing up more network capacity it can boost these speeds significantly, Reuters reports. The company's chief technology officer, Howard Watson, told the news agency in an interview that Virgin Media is setting itself a "vision" of achieving 200mbs for its customers over the next four years. "The current technology that we're investing in to roll out the 50mps over the next 12 months has inherent within it that extra capability," he remarked. He said the high speeds would allow broadband users to download more videos, interactive games and other bandwidth-heavy applications simultaneously, resulting in a more enhanced internet experience. Earlier this month, industry regulator Ofcom said broadband providers would be offered financial incentives to invest in super-fast broadband and bring the UK up to speed with countries such as Japan and France.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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