Nick Thompson, Director of Consumer Services at KC, said:

"Hats off to Virgin Media, as this is definitely a step in the right direction, and one that other ISPs need to take if the industry is to regain consumer trust. When it comes to broadband, the need for speed is key for consumers, and the demand for bandwidth hungry apps is only going to increase in the future with the prevalence of next generation services like Telehealth and IPTV.

People are simply fed up of being hoodwinked by headline grabbing up-to speeds that fail to deliver in reality and it is interesting to note that Virgin plans to monitor and publish only two thirds of its customers’ speeds. Transparency is key in rebuilding the industry’s image, which is why KC has led the way with an interactive speed map that allows users to put in their postcode and check the broadband speed and performance of existing users in their street.

We also make our download limits clearly available to customers and have actually recently increased download allowances. With the news that the ASA will be launching a comprehensive policing of online advertising, I expect we will see increasing levels of transparency across the industry."