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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) launched its 50Mb broadband package at the end of 2008, which remains the UK’s fastest tariff. However, BT Broadband (www.BT.com) announced its own 40Mb fibre optic broadband packages last week - known as BT Infinity (www.BT.com/Infinity).

Download and upload speeds

Although BT has announced its own superfast broadband packages, its advertised 40Mb broadband speeds are still not as fast as Virgin Media’s top package.

However, BT does offer upload speeds at a whopping 10Mb on some of its fibre packages - far faster than Virgin Media’s 1.5Mb uploads.

Although both providers use fibre-to-the-cabinet, the type of technology each one uses is different. Virgin Media says that the coaxial cable it uses to deliver its broadband means that every customer has the potential to reach its headline 50Mb download speed.

However, the technology used by BT means that speeds are still affected by distance from the telephone street cabinet, electrical interference and wiring. Because of this, not every customer has the potential to get 40Mb - some customers might only be able to get a maximum of 30Mb for example - though this is plenty. BT has said though, that customers will get an average of around 30Mb and a minimum speed of 15Mb.

You also need to bear in mind the other factors that affect download speeds for both BT and Virgin Media; network conditions, the time of day you go online and the servers you're downloading from will all affect your speed.

Download allowances

BT’s Option 1 package only has a 20GB download allowance - the equivalent of just four HD movie downloads - which is not really suitable 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 fair usage policy.

On the other hand, Virgin Media’s XXL 50Mb broadband package (www.VirginMedia.com) is unlimited with no traffic management policy - so you won’t have your speed throttled no matter how much you download.

Prices

BT (www.BT.com) definitely offers the cheapest next generation broadband, starting at less than £20 a month for its Option 1 package. However, this does come with a 20GB download allowance so you would be better off going for Option 2 if you want to do a lot of downloading. It is also subject to a £50 connection fee.

Option 2 costs £24.99 a month, with no connection fee, but you still need a landline for both packages, which costs an additional £11.54 a month. Both packages are also subject to an 18 month contract.

Virgin Media’s 50Mb broadband package is more costly, and is charged at £28 a month when you also take a Virgin Media landline at an extra £11 a month. However, you don’t actually need a landline for a cable connection, so if you want the 50Mb broadband as a standalone product, you can get it for £38 a month. It is also subject to a £35 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.

BT’s 40Mb broadband is available to far fewer consumers at the moment. Around 500,000 homes and businesses will be able to access BT’s next generation fibre services from 31 enabled exchanges by the end of February. A further 2.5 million homes and businesses will be able to access 40Mb broadband by late summer 2010, rising to four million by the end of the year.

It has committed itself to covering 40% of the UK - or some 10 million homes and businesses - with its fibre optic network by 2012.

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.

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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