Broadband News

Virgin Media hits out at rival’s advertised broadband speeds

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

By Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Cable broadband provider Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) has spoken out about the huge gap between advertised broadband speeds and what consumers actually receive.

The comments were made as Ofcom geared up to release its annual broadband speed test results, which will show that although average speeds have increased, the gap between what is advertised and what is received has also grown.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, said: “While Ofcom’s report is good news for our customers, it’s clear that our DSL competitors just aren’t keeping up with their promises of 20Mb broadband.

“No DSL customer receives 18Mb, only 2% are receiving more than 14Mb and, on average, DSL providers are delivering just 33% of their advertised ‘up to 20Mb’ speed.

“We need to ensure people are not being ripped off and the lack of transparency in broadband advertising risks damaging consumer confidence in superfast broadband. The Advertising Standards Authority has announced a review into the way broadband is advertised and the need for change is now urgent.”

He added that Virgin Media customers could receive a massive 90% of their advertised speed. The company uses fibre optic cables to deliver speeds of up to 10Mb, 20Mb and even 50Mb broadband - the UK’s fastest, widely available package. It will also be launching a new 100Mb broadband package by the end of the year.

Rival BT Broadband (www.BT.com) hit back, saying that it offered the “the most consistently accurate prediction of the speed specific to [consumers’] lines” and highlighting the £2.5 billion it is investing in its own superfast fibre network. It aims to bring speeds of up to 40Mb broadband to two-thirds of the UK by 2015 - a quarter of whom will be able to enjoy even faster speeds of up to 100Mb.

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