Virgin Media Logo

Virgin Media are to double the speeds of their current customers broadband, free of charge. The upgrade, which begins in February, will also see the top speed increase from 100Mbps to 120Mbps.

The full roll-out is expected to be completed by mid-2013 at a cost to the company of £110m. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, said the investment would be a “great boost” to the UK. He said in a statement “I welcome this announcement from Virgin Media as it will provide a 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 newer and smarter economy.”

The government has set targets to improve the UK’s broadband speeds considerably in the next three years.

Virgin Medias upgrade will mean customers currently signed up for 10Mbps will be upgraded to 20Mbps, while users on 20Mbps and 30Mbps packages will both be upped to 60Mbps. Those on 50Mbps will be upped to 100Mbps and those already on 100Mbps will be upped to the new 120Mbps that Virgin is now able to provide. The company has also said the bandwidth usage limits will also be doubled to accommodate the increased speed.

Most customers will not notice the upgrades taking place, nor will any have to pay for the changes to make place, a spokesman has said.

Wednesday January 11^th 2012
The Onlines