Uswitch.com reacts to Virgin ‘supercharging’ its broadband speeds
Commenting on the news that Virgin Media will now deliver broadband speeds of between 50 Mbps and 152 Mbps through its fibre optic network, Marie-Louise Abretti, broadband expert at Uswitch.com, says: “At Virgin’s top speed of 152 Mbps it would take just four minutes to download an HD-quality film, or 11 minutes if you’re downloading at Virgin’s new entry-level speed of 50 Mbps. It would take considerably longer – 37 minutes – to download the same film at the UK average speed of 14.7 Mbps.
“No longer is a home PC the sole portal to the internet in British households. A typical home now has multiple devices accessing the internet at any one time – as tablets, smartphones, laptops and games consoles make families all the more hungry for faster speeds and more generous download limits.
“British households increasingly crave broadband connections that can cope with their huge demand for the web at peak times of day, when everyone’s at home and trying to stream their favourite TV shows, download films for the next day’s commute, surf the internet for homework, or Skype friends and family.
“To take advantage of Virgin’s new speeds, existing customers must opt in, but at no extra cost – nor do they need to sign up to new contracts. And new customers can sign up for the boosted speeds at current prices, too. It’s a very good deal.
“However, Virgin’s fibre optic network only reaches around half of UK homes. And, while some Virgin customers will be enjoying three-figure speeds, there are remote rural areas of the UK still stuck in the broadband slow lane, contending with patchy connections and sluggish speeds. More needs to be done to bring faster broadband to the whole of Britain, and not just urban areas.”
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Maja Hauke
Phone: 0207 148 4663
Email: maja.hauke@uswitch.com
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