UPD Virgin Media UK Scrap Online Backup and Replaces with Cloud Storage

Cable provider Virgin Media has launched its new-ish online storage service, which will enable their new and existing broadband subscribers in the United Kingdom to store and protect up to 500GB (GigaBytes) of content from almost any device. On the flip side their old service and all your files will soon be gone.

The service is based on technology from F-Secure and works to automatically back-up users’ content into the “Cloud” (aka – the Internet). Apparently up to 10 people in a Virgin Media broadband household can have their own account and they’re “giving each user 5GB free storage to get them started” (technically 50GB of storage).

But it’s important to clarify some of the language that Virgin Media uses here. Firstly, once you’ve bought storage for the first time, you can no longer use Virgin Media Cloud for free (unless you close your account and register for a new one).

Secondly the related page on their website states that only the “first 5GB” is for free and if you want to hit that 50GB limit then that will set you back an extra £3.99 per month. The other levels after that are: 100GB for £5.99, 250GB for £13.99 and 500GB for £26.99.

By comparison most of BT’s entry-level broadband packages come with 2GB of Cloud storage, although their bigger packages raise this all the way up to 50GB. On the other hand you could get online storage from elsewhere, such as 7GB via Microsoft’s OneDrive service (formerly SkyDrive). It’s worth pointing out that a lot of broadband ISPs don’t offer any online backup solution.

UPDATE 14th March 2014

Now here’s the downside.. On the 31st May 2014, all current Virgin Backup & Storage accounts will be closed for good. “If you haven’t put your stored files somewhere safe by then, you’ll lose them,” said a Virgin Media techy. The change is obviously to make way for the above Cloud solution.