4 December 2008
Broadband provider Virgin Media has hinted that it may commence its super-fast broadband service later this month.
The company told journalists to "hold the date" on December 15th, prompting widespread speculation of an upcoming launch.
Virgin has said its 50 megabit per second service - which will be delivered via fibre optics - will be the fastest available in the UK.
So far it has refused to give an official launch date, but in recent months it has been criticising the accuracy of broadband speed testers.
Indeed, it has claimed many speed testers are not up to the job of measuring the speeds that will soon be available to its customers.
BT announced plans this summer to deliver super-fast broadband to ten million homes by 2012. It said its service would offer speeds of up to 100 megabits per second.
It added that speeds of 1,000 megabits per second could be available in the future.