It has recently been confirmed that Virgin Media will begin offering its next-generation broadband services to homes and businesses around the UK later this year, with download speeds of up to 100Mbps available to those living in cabled areas.

Virgin Media’s current flagship broadband package, which uses fibre optic technology to provide the most consistent speeds possible, is rated at up to 50Mbps for downloads and so the new service would double this potential.

A spokesperson for Virgin Media said that in some areas it would be able to provide business customers with 200Mbps connections, which would make the majority of BT business broadband packages look a little long in the tooth.

Although Virgin Media is pushing its 100Mbps service, a BT representative said that in fact the cable broadband provider was only just catching up with BT. It is claimed that 100Mbps connections are already enjoyed by BT business customers, with the BT customer base being considerably larger, with 25 per cent more subscribers.

Virgin Media hopes to bring 100Mbps broadband to every one of its customers by 2011, but it aims to offer it in some areas before 2010 is out. No further information as to pricing was provided, but Virgin Media is continuing to expand its operations and increase its annual revenue, with a 3.3 per cent rise in 2009.

Simple Broadband’s Communication Manager Simon Gerrard said “Virgin Media is definitely upping the stakes in both the home and business broadband markets and with 100Mbps and even 200Mbps broadband coming online in the near future, the UK will no longer be languishing in the middle of the international league tables for average download speeds. We can only hope that Virgin Media rolls out its fibre optic networks to encompass even more UK customers”.

Virgin Media is believed to be in the process of rethinking its marketing strategies in order to reach a wider audience and to encourage more people to look at its high speed fibre optic broadband deals rather than focusing on BT broadband options instead.

Advertising industry experts at Marketing Week revealed that Virgin Media has talked to the firms that run its many different campaigns and has challenged them to create a new selection of marketing options in order to bolster the public profile of cable broadband.

Broadening the appeal of broadband and making people more aware of the differences between ADSL and cable connections is a sensible idea, particularly now that BT is offering its own Infinity service, which some might assume is essentially the same as the Virgin Media offering, although this is not, in fact, the case.

Along with new ad campaigns, Virgin Media is also likely to overhaul its current line up of broadband deals, although how it will go about this remains unknown. It could well choose to focus on bringing 50Mbps deals down in price, making them more attractive to a wider audience, as the benefits of high download speeds and more consistent connections are key that Virgin Media is slightly underplaying compared to its rivals.

Virgin Media continues to innovate in its offering of broadband bundles that include home phone, digital TV and even mobile service provision along with cable connectivity. Perhaps it will focus on communicating just how convenient this type of bundle offering can be, particularly if value for money is of greater concern than download speeds and monthly data allowances to consumers.

Simple Broadband’s Simon Gerrard said “Virgin Media has always created some interesting advertisements, but perhaps it should take a leaf from Virgin Airlines and follow the classic mantra of ’sex sells’ to drag consumers away from BT broadband options.”

A small village in Wiltshire is playing host to a brand new super-fast wireless broadband trial as part of an exercise by Virgin Media to examine how feasible rural wireless broadband connections are for home users.

Chapel Plaister, near Corsham, has been chosen for the trial which will see Virgin Media team up with telecommunications company Vtesse Networks in order to offer high speed connections to properties within the isolated hamlet.

The trial will lead into a wider set of tests in which the next generation of broadband technologies are being provided to various customers around the country as the deadline for universal broadband availability draws closer.

Vtesse and Virgin Media hope that they will be able to offer customers connections that far exceed the 2Mbps minimum as laid out in the Government’s Digital Britain bill.

The trial in Chapel Plaister will begin in early 2010 and is complemented by a number of other trials taking place in Cornwall in which cheap cable broadband using fibre optic technology is being made available.

Vtesse CEO Aidan Paul commented that the new home broadband technologies being tested by his firm would ideally provide high speed broadband to those living in areas currently bereft of broadband availability.

Mr. Paul made it clear that he is not confident that the 2Mbps target will be reached in rural areas, with land line connections for home users either too expensive or limited by line length. Wireless broadband and the possibility of cheap cable broadband for residents in these areas could be the ideal solutions if industry backing and commercial success are assured, according to Mr. Paul.

Industry regulator Ofcom has revealed figures which show that the price of broadband in the UK is considerably lower than in the majority of other nations around the world.

The recent report analysed figures from various developed nations including Germany and Italy, identifying that the cost of most digital TV, home phone, broadband and mobile services is lower in the UK than anywhere else.

The figures concluded that a family of four in the UK could pay as little as £108 for mobile phones, broadband, home phone and TV packages to cover the entire household. This includes an 8Mbps broadband connection and mobile phones for every member of the family.

Deals covering all of these services in a bundle, which is usually the cheapest way in which families can pay for them, would cost customers in Italy 28 per cent more. In terms of value, Italy is the UK’s closest rival, although the gap in average prices is significant.

Ofcom’s CEO Ed Richards indicated that the low price of broadband in the UK was due to a highly competitive market. With BT broadband deals and bundles competing with comparable packages from Virgin Media and Tiscali, prices are likely to stay low and continue to fall in the UK over the coming months.

Mr Richards also cited innovation within the UK broadband industry as key to its continued success and the wide availability of digital services despite recent criticism of government plans for the future.

In other research from Ofcom, it was discovered that over 35 per cent of all UK households take advantage of BT broadband deals or similar in order to receive additional services including home phone and digital TV from a single provider.

New plans have been unveiled by Virgin Media to offer the next generation of set top box technology. Virgin currently provides high speed fibre optic broadband and digital TV services for close to 10 million households in the UK.

It emerged that Virgin Media would be partnering with US firm TiVo, a name that has become synonymous with digital personal video recording in the United States, in order to provide a set top box which could record live television as well as offering broadband internet on customers’ televisions.

There are currently Virgin Media and BT Broadband options which allow for the combination of a digital TV package with a high speed connection, although no provider has yet managed to offer full internet access via a set top box.

Users will be able to take advantage of the high speed broadband connection to access a much wider variety of on-demand video content from various sources, expanding on the current Virgin Media offerings.

Virgin Media Chief Exec Neil Berkett said that his company was aiming to push ahead with the development of the technology in order to gain an early advantage in the next generation of subscription TV.

Although there has been no official release date for the new set top box and its associated services, a source at Virgin Media has confirmed that these will both become available some time in 2010.

Virgin Media is not the only home broadband provider to be partnering in anticipation of a more integrated future for television and the internet. It is likely that BT Broadband options which may include on-demand video services from the BBC, currently codenamed Project Canvas, could also be emerging with support from a new set top box in the near future.

From today the Virgin Media is offering free installation on all its packages worth – this is a saving of £35. This offer is a great deal and represents a good saving for those who can access cable broadband.

Virgin Media offers packages for the home broadband user with speed options of up to 10Mb, 20Mb or an amazing 50Mb. These speeds combined with unlimited downloads, free internet security and a free wireless router make them one of our recommended broadband suppliers for home use.