Broadband News
Virgin Media eases traffic management
Thursday, 14 May 2009
By Seamour Rathore seamour@consumerchoices.co.uk
Virgin Media customers on its L and XL broadband packages can now download more data before their speed is throttled.
Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) has eased its traffic management policy for L and XL customers – meaning they can download 1,500MB and 3,500MB of data before Virgin’s throttling policy kicks-in - which cuts their available speed by 75%. The previous limits were 1,200 and 3,000MB respectively.
The download throttling period is still five hours for all packages apart from the old 2Mb ‘S’ package which remains at 12 hours. Earlier this year Virgin was trialling increased throttling periods – up to seven hours - in some areas.
Virgin Media said that the traffic management policy only affects the top 5% of its customers who are downloading and/or uploading an unusually large amount. It added that this usage would otherwise affect other customers.
Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said: “Today's changes highlight how the major investment in our new network is enabling all customers to enjoy the best of today's web, whether viewing full screen HD video on a PC or unlimited downloads.
“Few of our competitors' broadband is fast enough for these applications and some of our competitors actually block higher speed applications and charge customers when they download too much.”
Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director: “It’s good to see Virgin Media loosening the reins a little for customers on its L and XL packages. Virgin says it will continue to refine its traffic management and more changes could be on the way - it's openess with customers it to be applauded.
“However, we still believe that marketing 'unlimited' broadband, when there is in fact traffic management in place can be misleading for customers who haven't read the small print.
"Many of Virgin's competitors fail, however, to be clear about their policies, just saying there are penalties for excessive use - but that leaves the customer in the dark about where the line is being drawn.
“Nevertheless, heavy downloaders on Virgin's L and XL packages should still watch their limits to avoid having their speed cut by up to 75%. Install our free Broadband Download Monitor to keep track.”
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