virgin to cut 50mb prices

Soldato
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couldnt see this posted so here goes :)

Virgin Media's Next Generation Network Makes UK Broadband History

* UK’s first high-speed network complete
* New 50Mb pricing now below £30
* Virgin Media trials higher upstream speeds
* Launch of first Virgin Media branded laptop

Virgin Media (NASDAQ: VMED), the UK’s only provider of fibre optic broadband services across the country, makes history this month with the completion of Britain’s first next-generation broadband network. Having spent the last 18 months conducting significant upgrades using the latest DOCSIS 3.0 technology, Virgin Media has tripled its network capacity and is the first company to offer ultrafast speeds of up to 50Mb to over 12 million homes across the UK.

To celebrate the completion of the network roll-out, Virgin Media announced a new pricing structure for its 50Mb service. From 1st September Virgin Media will reduce the monthly cost of its 50Mb service for new and existing customers to £28, when taken with a phone line, or £38 if taken as a sole product, making the ultrafast service ultra-fantastic value. The 50Mb service continues to be free of traffic management.

Virgin Media will also start a new pilot to trial a range of upload speeds of up to 10Mb – much faster than the download speeds of most ADSL connections. In addition to trialling the technical capabilities of the DOCSIS 3.0 network, the trial will explore the demand for higher upstream speeds for bandwidth hungry families, on services such as video conferencing, multiplayer gaming and home working.

This week the company will also launch the “Freedom” netbook, its first ever branded laptop. The bespoke laptop, available in black or Virgin red, has been optimised for 50Mb speeds and will be packaged with top of the line software. Both new and existing customers will be able to get the laptop at no additional charge when they take selected great value bundled packages.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said, “As the first company to bring broadband to the UK ten years ago, the completion of our next-generation network marks another pioneering moment for internet access in the UK. We are delighted with the performance and reliability of our 50Mb service, and with the customer feedback. Now the roll-out is days from being complete, we’re ready to take 50Mb to the next stage of development and reinforce our leading position in the broadband market.”

Virgin Media is currently piloting the real-world deployment of 200Mb speeds in Ashford, Kent.

For more information on Virgin Media products and services visit www.virginmedia.com



* Upstream pilots will launch in selected areas in the North East and Midlands area. With up to 10Mb upstream a customer could expect to upload a media card full of high quality photos in as little as 2 minutes (based on a 128MB card containing 75 photos at 1.6MB each)
* With the new pricing structure, a typical user could enjoy a phone line, a digital TV service featuring Virgin Media’s pioneering TV on demand system and the UK’s fastest broadband at up to 50Mb from as little as £39 per month. A typical family could enjoy a complete entertainment package including our top TV service featuring 160 channels, a V+ HD box to enjoy HD content, as well as the ultrafast 50Mb service and a phone line from as little as £60.50 per month.
* The 50Mb service continues to be free of Subscriber Traffic Management (STM) subject to Virgin Media’s Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). This can be found at www.virginmedia.com/acceptableuse
* The Virgin Media Freedom Netbook will be available through Virgin owned all retail channels, and features:
o 10.2” TFT LCD Backlight, Microsoft Windows XP (inc. SP3), Microsoft Works suite
o PGguard security for antivirus, Virgin Media wallpaper and screensaver
o Intel® Atom™ Processor N270, 1.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 512K L2 Cache
o 1GB RAM (DDR2 533 MHz) ,120GB SATA Hard Drive
o Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n, 2-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC), 0.3 megapixel webcam
o Li-Ion, 3Cell (2S2P), 3300 mAh (2 hours 30 mins standard use)
o Weight 1.1 kg, Dimensions - 265x182x26mm
o Colour – Virgin Red or Black
* The Virgin Media Freedom Netbook with additional features, is worth around £300, and is available at no extra cost with certain 24 month bundles featuring both fixed line and mobile broadband products. See www.virginmedia.com for more details.

About Virgin Media

With almost 10 million customers, Virgin Media is the UK's first quad-play provider of broadband, TV, phone and mobile.

The company is one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK, using a unique fibre optic cable network to deliver next generation ultrafast internet access of up to 50Mb to just over half of all homes. Combined with a high speed ADSL service and mobile broadband products, Virgin Media is able to offer broadband internet access to virtually the entire country.

Virgin Media has the UK’s most advanced TV on demand service and is the only TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer. It is the second largest provider of pay TV, was the first to launch a high definition TV service and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder.

The company operates the most popular virtual mobile network in the UK which, when launched, was the world’s first such mobile phone service. It is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country.

Virgin Media also owns Virgin Media Television (VMtv) which runs eight entertainment channels, including Virgin1, LIVING, Bravo and Challenge. VMtv is a 50 per cent joint partner with BBC Worldwide in UKTV, which consists of ten channels including Dave, G.O.L.D., Watch and Alibi.

With operations based entirely in the UK, Virgin Media Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (VMED).

For more information, go to www.virginmedia.com




link = http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=205406&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1307695&highlight=
 
Bonus ill look forward to the reduction in September on my 50mb, the upload trial of 10mb sounds interesting.
 
Interesting stuff. A a customer on VIP package, it might be included now as standard? As I think we paid about £30-something for 20mbit within it.
 
The £28 is a price I can live with for the 50 Mb since I have a phone with them and the bundle deal for the netbook looks interesting, though I take it you'll be put on a 24 month contract if you choose the bundle it's on?
 
Interesting reading indeed.. I didn't realise that the 50Mb service was exempt from their traffic shaping either!

It is only exempt untill the service has fully rolled out. If they increase the STM limits in proportion to the speed increase though, it will give a 15GB limit during the morning, and 7.5GB limit in the afternoon, which should be plenty for the majority of things (you could download a full steam game and still not get capped).

they will shape it eventually its just a matter of time, roll on 200Mb tho :D

Although 200Mb would be great, I don't think many things would be capable of sending you data at 200Mb, so unless you realy heavily multitask by downloading from many places at once, a connection like that could be wasted.
 
Was more ment in regards to the 10Mb upload service then the cost reduction to the 50Mb.
Lets face it, who the hell really needs download speeds of 50Mb, let alone 200Mb.
But upload, OH DEAR GOD, we lag so far behind Europe in that regard that its not even funny.
GIVE ME MORE UPLOADS DAMNIT :p
 
Was more ment in regards to the 10Mb upload service then the cost reduction to the 50Mb.
Lets face it, who the hell really needs download speeds of 50Mb, let alone 200Mb.
But upload, OH DEAR GOD, we lag so far behind Europe in that regard that its not even funny.
GIVE ME MORE UPLOADS DAMNIT :p

The current upload on 20Mb is more than sufficient for me. I would much rather have an increase in download speed than an increase in upload speed.
 
Although 200Mb would be great, I don't think many things would be capable of sending you data at 200Mb, so unless you realy heavily multitask by downloading from many places at once, a connection like that could be wasted.

would newsgroups be able to transfer at these speeds?
Actual download speed would be ~25mb/s give or take.


Isnt that for the 200MB?


the way I read it is its being trialled on the 50mb. whether they keep it on 50mb I dont know. I could see them giving 5mb upload for 50mb users and 10mb for the 200mb users after the trial.
 
Cheeky ********! They've been phoning me non stop over the last week trying to get me to upgrade to 50mb, and I've finally succumbed @ 50mb/TV/Phone for £46pm. No wonder they were pressuring me so much knowing its about to get a whole lot cheaper!

Gonna phone them and cancel the upgrade methinks, can certainly wait 6 weeks to save ~£100 a year.
 
would newsgroups be able to transfer at these speeds?
Actual download speed would be ~25mb/s give or take.
.

I reckon usenet will get that, maybe. Need gigabit wan/lan on routers first! I've pulled 13mBps off usenet at uni, limited by the 10/100 switch I was plugged into.
 
I'm getting my 50mb installed tomorrow (up from my current 20mb). To be honest I'm looking forward to the lack of STM throttling, as when it kicks in it really cripples my connection.

I'm really hoping they'll keep the 50mb line unrestricted for at least a while longer.
 
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