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BT vs Virgin Media fibre optic broadband

Our Broadband Expert says...

If you're looking for the fastest possible broadband connection, then a next generation fibre package is the best way to get speedy downloads.

Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) is rolling out its 100Mb broadband connection, which is currently the UK’s fastest, widely available broadband connection speed. However, in 2011, BT Broadband (www.BT.com) added its own 100Mb fibre optic broadband tariff to its BT Infinity (www.BT.com/Infinity) packages.

BT claims the roll-out of its fibre network is among the fastest in the world and will mean two-thirds of the population will have access to superfast broadband by 2014.

Both providers also have plans to upgrade the speeds of their existing packages.

BT plans to double its up to 40Mb connection to 80Mb during 2012. Virgin Media is also planning to double its 10Mb and 30Mb connections, and is increasing both its 50Mb and 100Mb broadband packages to 120Mb - making Virgin Media once again the provider of the fastest commercially available broadband in the UK.

Upload speeds

BT claims that the upload speeds on its 100Mb broadband connection are up to double those offered by Virgin Media's 100Mb connection, at up to 15Mb.

Download allowances

BT’ Infinity's Option 1 package has a 40GB download allowance - the equivalent of around eight HD movie downloads - which is not necessarily enough for high-speed connections that are being used to download and stream a lot of content. However, its Option 2 package comes with “unlimited broadband” downloads, subject to a traffic management policy.

Virgin Media offers unlimited downloads on all of its broadband packages but with an acceptable use policy and traffic management applied. However, traffic management is not applied to Virgin Media's 100Mb package or downstream on its 50Mb broadband connections.

Prices

BT (www.BT.com) offers the cheaper of the next generation broadband connections, starting at £20 a month for its Option 1 package. However, this does come with a 40GB download limit so if you do a lot of downloading, you may be better off going for Option 2 which has an unlimited usage allowance. Option 1 is also subject to a £25 connection fee.

Option 2 costs £25.60 a month, with no connection fee, but you still need a landline for both packages, which costs an additional £14.60 a month or less if you pay for 12 months line rental upfront. Both packages are also subject to an 18 month contract.

Virgin Media’s 100Mb broadband connection costs £35 a month when you take a Virgin Media phone line at £13.90 a month, and its 50Mb broadband package is charged at £25 a month when bundled with a Virgin Media landline. However, you don’t actually need a landline for a cable connection, so if you want the 100Mb broadband as a standalone product you can get it for £45 a month and the 50Mb broadband for £35 a month. It is also subject to a £49.95 installation fee, a £20 activation fee and a 12 month contract.

Fibre optic broadband availability

Virgin Media’s cable network covers around 51% of the UK and its 50Mb package has been available to 12.5 million customers since summer 2009. It is continuing to roll-out its 100Mb connection throughout 2012.

BT’s 40Mb broadband will be available to 10 million households by 2012, rising to two-thirds of the population by 2014.

Suitability

Obviously, the first thing you need to think about when choosing between Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) and BT’s fibre packages is whether or not the services are available where you live.

And if you're looking to sign up to BT (www.BT.com) - which is the cheaper of the two - find out how far you live from the street cabinet and what your wiring is like - talk to BT to see what kind of speeds you could expect in reality.

Finally, think about your needs. If you can get a good speed from both providers, think about download limits and traffic management - and of course price. Don’t just sign up to extra services, such as home phone or digital TV if you don’t really need them. If you don’t use the services you'll just be wasting money, no matter how cheap they are.

If you want to compare BT Broadband's ADSL plans against Virgin Media, read our guide to Virgin Media vs BT broadband.

NB Best buy tables (orange background) are always current.

Examples in the text of the article (white background) are correct at time of publication.

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If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at OurExpert@broadbandchoices.co.uk

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