UPDATE2 Virgin Media Resuscitate 50Mbps Broadband as a Budget Option

Earlier this year Virgin Media made the bold decision to adopt “ultrafast broadband” (100Mbps+) as the entry-level speed for their service (here), although ISPreview.co.uk has learnt that the cable operator is about to test the reintroduction of their old 50Mbps tier as a new budget package.

At the end of last year we reported that Virgin Media was in the midst of considering the launch of a cheaper budget option (aka – “Project Prosecco“), which would focus on competing against some of the market’s cheapest but also slower broadband packages (e.g. Sky Broadband, TalkTalk and so forth).

Tom Mockridge, CEO of Virgin Media, said (Dec 2016):

“There are a lot of people down in the more economic sector but we think there is room for everyone in this market.”

Traditionally Virgin Media has preferred to foster more of a premium image, where being able to offer ultrafast speeds and TV has served them well. However the on-going expansion of their network coverage also leaves room for a more mass market appeal, which means being able to offer a low cost unlimited broadband service that can compete with the budget crowd. Not to mention that many people don’t yet need 100Mbps+.

Virgin’s old unlimited 50Mbps package had a standard price that is roughly the same as their newer 100Mbps entry-level option, which replaced it in March 2017 (e.g. £32.25 a month for 12 months standalone or £40 for broadband + phone). By comparison we understand that the new service, which could go live on Monday (3rd July) next week, will cost £26 per month standalone or £29 with phone.

Apparently the revived service is going to be treated as somewhat of a temporary pilot to test the waters and see how much interest it attracts, which is easy to do because much of the back-end tracking for the product still exists from when it was replaced in March. At this stage we don’t know if it will show up for everybody via the ISP’s primary website or only under certain conditions or in certain areas.

On top of that we also don’t know precisely what kind of usage allowance, traffic management policy or other service features may be present on the new package (unlimited is suspected). This is an issue because the proposed price point looks very similar to Virgin Media’s old 50GB capped version of the same package for light users (here). We hope to have more details shortly.

UPDATE 1:55pm

We can confirm that the new package will indeed offer unlimited usage. The only caveat is that you won’t be able to take it with their TV service (i.e. it’s only for standalone and broadband + phone bundles, as stated above).

A Virgin Media Spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:

“We’re always looking at new ways we can give our customers an amazing service and often review our products and bundles. We’ll have some more news for you soon.”

Interestingly we also understand that the new budget package is not related to last year’s so-called “Project Prosecco,” which suggests that Virgin Media may also have something else planned for the budget market.

UPDATE 3rd July 2017

As reported last week, the 50Mbps package has now returned to Virgin Media’s website. The prices mentioned earlier (plus the usual £20 one-off setup fee) still appear to be correct for a 12 month term, although oddly the £29 per month broadband and phone bundle becomes £40 per month after the initial contract period and that’s strange because it’s the exact same post-contract price as VM’s next 100Mbps package.