Virgin Media to double the speed of customer broadband

Hot on the heel;s of BT, Virgin Media is set to double the speeds of over four million of its broadband customers.

Announcing the news via the Virgin Media website, Virgin states that a mass roll-out of the next generation broadband will begin in earnest in February 2012 and Virgin Media will be boosting its top speed to 120Mb.

Prime Minister David Cameron is among the first to praise this ambitious initiative, which marks a step change in the UK’s digital development and will strengthen Virgin Media’s position as the fastest broadband provider in the UK.

The upgrade programme will continue over 18 months and is expected to be complete by mid 2013. Subscribers to Virgin Media’s current 10Mb, 20Mb, 30Mb and 50Mb services will see their speeds at least doubled, with 100Mb customers seeing a significant increase to 120Mb.

Virgin Media chief executive officer, Neil Berkett, said: “The burgeoning market for better connectivity has given us an opportunity to transform the digital experience of millions of our customers and to bring about a massive step change in the number of UK consumers who have access to exciting, next generation services.

“Virgin Media has a track record of leading Britain’s digital development and this major initiative will meet the growing demand for faster broadband as well as provide significantly more value to our customers.”

David Cameron commented: “I welcome this announcement from Virgin Media; it will provide a great boost for the economy and change the way many households, consumers and businesses use the internet.

“Rolling out superfast broadband across the country is a critical part of our plan to upgrade the UK’s infrastructure and build a new and smarter economy."

Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt, added: “Faster broadband speeds are great for customers and great for business, which is why our policy is to deliver superfast broadband to 90% of the country by 2015.