Cable giant Virgin Media has announced that its "ultrafast fibre optic" 100Mbps broadband service, which launched at the end of 2010 and is currently being rolled out around the UK, is now within reach of more than 20 million UK people; about one third of the country's total population.

The latest areas to be upgraded are Harborne in Birmingham, Lincoln, Seven Kings in Greater London and Solihull. Virgin Media's full deployment, which should eventually reach half of the country (mostly urban areas), is expected to complete by the middle of 2012 (13 million households).


Virgin Media makes a point to remind us that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) "now requires Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to market a broadband speed that at least 10% of their customers can receive. Generalised claims such as “fast” must also be clearly supported by an actual speed" (here), although the new 'guidance' doesn't come into full effect until 1st April 2012.

The 100Mbps service itself costs from just £35 per month (£25 for the first 3 months) when combined with the £13.90 Virgin Phone Line service (£45 when taken standalone). It comes with unlimited downloads (free of any heavy Traffic Management), a Super Hub (wireless modem router), unlimited online storage, internet security and more. TV and mobile service bundles are also available.

Separately Virgin Media is continuing to trial 200Mbps download speeds and 20Mbps uploads for a future product launch, although we probably won't see that until 2012 (depending on demand and competitive pressure from BT); they also have a 1.5Gbps trial running in East London.

Virgin's 100Mbps Rollout Plan (PDF)
http://shop.virginmedia.com/content/dam/allyours/pdf/100Mb%20rollout%2014%2009%2011.pdf