High speed Virgin broadband announced
By Alexis • Feb 26th, 2010 • Category: Uncategorized
- Photo: Virgin
The UK, which has lagged behind other European countries and some Asian ones in terms of Internet connectivity speed, is being given a major shot in the arm with Virgin revealing they plan to roll out, over the course of this year, 100mbps data speed broadband connectivity.
Delivery
Virgin broadband will be delivered over Virgin’s fibre network to specific areas. To give perspective to what this means for Internet users in the United Kingdom, they will now be capable of downloading 1GB of data in about 100 seconds. The cost of Virgin broadband is as yet unknown, but the company’s current 50mbps offering costs £38 per month, which should give some form of reference to Virgin’s future pricing.
Streaming television
- Photo: LG
While companies like BT have offered hybrid broadband services simultaneously, this move by Virgin means buffer-free web and streaming television is a possibility in the UK. In addition, streaming higher quality video will now be possible, too, and it is likely web services will follow YouTube’s lead in making high quality HD streaming and HD tube sites a reality. This is good news for LCD TV manufacturers, who are increasingly integrating more and more online capabilities into their sets.
The bad news
The only bad news for heavy data consumers and Internet users in the UK is that Virgin broadband available at these speeds means data costs could skyrocket. The ability to download at these speeds means several terabytes of data can conceivably be downloaded in a given month and while most users won’t need this or use this, a small subset of users will see their storage expenses balloon. How this additional service will affect Virgin’s bottom line and position in the market is unclear, but it is clear among the high broadband usage audience with awe-inspiring connectivity speeds.
Tags for this article: Virgin broadband
