UK’s fastest broadband reaches one million homes

Virgin Media, UK broadband provider, has now passed one million homes as it rolls out the country’s fastest broadband across its entire next generation cable network. Giving residents access to over sixteen times the average national internet speed1, the highly anticipated 100Mb broadband service is now on sale up and down the country from Greenock to Guildford, with complete roll-out on track for mid-2012.

While ultrafast speeds allow users to download incredibly quickly, with even a high quality movie taking less than a couple of minutes2, the service truly comes into its own when more than one person is connected to the internet at home at the same time. Faster broadband gives users the greater bandwidth to cope with the growing demands of computers, games consoles, mobile smartphones and even connected TVs. Such is the explosion in the use of these devices that Virgin Media now carries over half a terabit of data per second during busy periods – at that rate it is possible to download 62 copies of the entire Encyclopedia Britannica every second.

The 100Mb service also provides 10Mb upload speeds, giving Virgin Media customers the ability to share content such as live high-definition video with ease3. Each new subscription comes with a custom built, energy efficient, combined modem and wireless ‘N’ router4, which has the potential to deliver speeds of up to 400Mb as new services roll-out in the future5. The new ultrafast service costs as little as £35 a month6 when combined in a bundle, or just £45 per month when bought as a sole product.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said: “Reaching the one million home milestone is a hugely important step in ensuring consumers are able to keep up with the latest developments in this digitally connected world. We had more then 10,000 registrations on the first day we unveiled 100Mb so there is real desire for better broadband and all the wonderful things you can do with a fast connection. When we finish the roll-out of 100Mb across our network, half the country will have access to ultrafast broadband. That’ll be six years ahead of EU targets. ”

Virgin Media’s growing network is the result of a multi-billion pound private investment and currently passes approximately 13 million homes. As well as investing in the expansion of this network through traditional underground cable building work, Virgin Media is also conducting trials of innovative new methods to deploy high speed networks over telegraph or electricity poles and is exploring potential opportunities to connect more towns and villages to its next generation network.