Virgin Media is turbo-charging the download speeds of subscribers in Cardiff and Swansea – up to 152Mbps.
The latest programme of speed boosts from Virgin Media will see customers previously paying for the top tier 120Mbps broadband service getting a free upgrade to 152Mbps.
Customers on the 30Mbps package will also see top download speeds boosted to 50Mbps and punters paying for the 60Mbps service will be able to enjoy speeds of up to 100Mbps.
To promote the rollout of faster broadband speeds across its cable network Virgin Media’s living room on wheels, which we spent some time with in London, took to the streets of Cardiff.
The converted kit car houses a TV, a wireless Super Hub. It’s able to plug directly in to the Virgin Media network, allowing the promotional team to drive around the UK, connect to a street cabinet and show off the power of up to 152Mbps broadband.
Joe Lathan, Virgin Media’s broadband director said: “People are increasingly connecting multiple gadgets to their home broadband so a supercharged connection is essential to boost your online entertainment experience. We’re supercharging our incredible network to ensure that Virgin Media customers in Cardiff and the surrounds can make the most of the online world.”
Kevin Brennan, Cardiff West MP said: “As people rely on the internet more and more for their media services such TV catch-up, film downloads and music streaming this will become a vital service for many. I fully welcome Virgin Media’s announcement and I look forward to seeing how it benefits the many people in my constituency.”
The Welsh Government and BT have launched Superfast Cymru, a broadband upgrade project partially funded by the UK Government’s BDUK (Broadband Delivery fo the UK) war chest.
This will see 96 per cent of Welsh homes and businesses able to tap into superfast broadband which for the most part will be delivered using Openreach FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) lines, providing top speeds of 80Mbps.
Recent speed test results from Ofcom claimed that Virgin Media’s cable-based packages outstripped BT’s FTTC services in terms of speed, but noted that due to contention customers were more likley to experience slowdown at peak times.
Some locations in Wales stand to benefit from faster FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) lines, which provide top download speeds of 330Mbps. Though figures have not been released, it’s expected that these connections will only be rolled out to a minority of locations covered by the Superfast Cymru project. So far, Superfast Cymru has connected 100,000 locations to superfast broadband.
Virgin Media has demonstrated that its network can handle 1.5Gbps download speeds and its looking at launching even faster speeds with DOCSIS 3.1 technology.
Virgin Media’s fibre network covers roughly 55 per cent of the UK, and generally speaking doesn’t reach out to rural areas.
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