Broadband News

Virgin Media 50Mb broadband subscribers jump 81%

Friday, 26 February 2010

By Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

More than 41,000 customers now take Virgin Media's (www.Virginmedia.com) 50Mb broadband - following a jump of 81% since the previous quarter.

The cable broadband provider’s latest results showed a massive increase in the number of customers taking its superfast broadband package.

Virgin Media added 63,000 new cable broadband customers in the last three months of 2009, bringing its total customer base to over 4.1 million.

Continuing its plan to upgrade all 2Mb customers to 10Mb, Virgin Media said that 98% of customers were now on at least a 10Mb package - with 560,300 taking one of its top two tariffs of up to 50Mb or 20Mb broadband.

“Our unique network allows us to innovate and lead the broadband market. With 50Mb, we already offer the fastest widely available broadband in the country and by the end of 2010 we will begin the roll-out of a new 100Mb service,” said Virgin Media.

The ISP said that it was continuing to trial 200Mb broadband speeds, with superfast uploads of up to 20Mb.

Virgin Media’s cable network is available to around 51% of the UK, and although it doesn’t plan to extend this to the whole of the UK, it did connect around 100,000 more homes in 2009.

Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “While customer numbers might still be low in relation to the 12.5 million Virgin Media customers that can access 50Mb broadband, the cable provider has seen an impressive boost in customers taking its superfast offering.

“This is no doubt down to the price cuts that Virgin Media has implemented since launching the package at the end of 2008. New customers can now get 50Mb broadband from just £28 a month when taken with a phone line for £11 a month.

“2010 will see real competition in the superfast broadband market,” he added. “With Virgin Media announcing its 100Mb package and BT Broadband (www.BT.com) rolling out its own fibre optic cable network with speeds of up to 40Mb broadband on its Infinity Broadband packages, from just £19.99 a month, this will be an interesting year.”

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