Broadband Guide

Virgin Media fibre optic broadband

Updated: Monday 14 May, 2012

By Helen Thomas

When it comes to fibre optic broadband in the UK at present, Virgin Media blazes a superfast trail that other providers can but follow.

Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com) is the current leader of the superfast, fibre optic broadband pack, regularly topping the list in Ofcom's broadband speed tests. Virgin Media's fibre optic cable network covers 48% of the country.

Current fibre network availability

With billions already invested in its fibre network, almost half of the UK population, mostly in urban areas, can already access Virgin Media’s superfast broadband with speeds of up to 30Mb, 50Mb and 100Mb.

Virgin Media’s 100Mb broadband service is already available to six million cable homes and it has trialled an up to 200Mb connection, and even a 1.5Gb connection - the world’s fastest ever broadband.

Use our postcode checker to find out if your area is already covered.

Virgin Media broadband packages

Future plans for fibre optic

Virgin Media is continuing to upgrade its fibre network and aims to complete roll-out of its 100Mb broadband service by 2012.

At the same time Virgin Media will start to increase speeds available on its existing packages with speed upgrade completion scheduled for mid-2013. Its 10Mb and 30Mb packages will each double, and its 50Mb and 100Mb packages will both be increased to 120Mb - with 100Mb customers receiving a discount.

Speeds

According to Virgin Media, the amount of data being downloaded by its customers has grown by an average of 43% a year since 2007. With demand for the increased bandwidth provided by faster speeds at an all time high, Virgin Media has clearly focused itself on catering for the high usage consumer.

Virgin Media’s chief executive, Neil Berkett, said: “We have continued to focus relentlessly on delivering superior services tailored to the needs of data-hungry households.”

Virgin Media consistently performs well in telecom regulator Ofcom's broadband speed tests, regularly delivering actual speeds between 90-96% of the advertised speeds.

Hot on Virgin Media's heels though is BT which is also doubling the speed of its BT Infinity product, from 40Mb to 80Mb, and increasing coverage of its fibre network to two-thirds of the population giving it a significantly wider coverage than its rival. Its 100Mb broadband connection is being rolled out using technology that is capable of delivering speeds of up to 300Mb - keeping Virgin Media on its toes for the foreseeable future.

What are benefits of fibre optic broadband?

Having a fibre optic broadband connection brings an array of benefits:

• Multiple users can be online at the same time without experiencing a drop in speed – perfect for family households or shared student accommodation
• Downloading albums, TV shows or films will take just minutes...even in HD
• Users can enjoy uninterrupted TV/film viewing as fibre broadband eliminates buffering delays during streaming
• Consistent speeds mean gamers won’t experience a connection lag at that critical point in their game.

Government broadband strategy

In 2010, the government announced an £830 million strategy to create the best broadband network in Europe by 2015. Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, outlined plans which include delivery of a “digital hub” in every community in the country including those rural communities who are often overlooked in the rapidly changing broadband market.

Fibre optic broadband v traditional phone line connection

After dial-up internet connections came broadband. Delivered via the nationwide network of copper telephone wires, broadband enabled users to stay permanently connected to the internet and didn’t tie up the landline while users were online.

However, broadband delivered via telephone wire is subject to a range of factors which significantly reduce the actual speed of your connection, including distance from the exchange and quality of the wiring. This means that the speeds that consumers get are rarely close to the “up to” speeds advertised.

Fibre optic is the next-generation of broadband and is considered “futureproof”. Fibre cables were designed for lightning fast data transfer and, while there are still some of the same factors affecting the connection speed, these have a much smaller impact. This means consumers get actual broadband speeds significantly closer to the advertised speeds than users connected via the telephone network can achieve.

Compare Virgin Media with other fibre optic broadband providers

Use our postcode checker to see how Virgin Media compare to the other fibre broadband providers on the market.