2.6 million households to be offered 10Mbps access by Virgin Media

Millions of households will soon benefit from a big upgrade to the minimum broadband connection speed offered by the largest cable broadband provider in the UK.

The lowest speed broadband connections of 2.6 million homes are being upgraded to 10Mbps by cable group, Virgin Media, which will set a brand new minimum speed for their broadband services.

More people in the home will be able to use services that are high-bandwidth like the online gaming and BBC iPlayer video catch-up service both at the same time with the upgrade of the connection from the current 2Mbps to the much faster 10Mbps.

The upgrade of the broadband connections to 10Mbps will begin rolling out to customers of the broadband provider in May and won’t cost anything extra said Virgin Media.

Last year Virgin Media upgraded users of its 4Mbps broadband service to 10Mbps and with this latest move customer will get the option of 10Mbps, 20Mbps and 50Mbps to choose from for their broadband connection.

Depending on the package users subscribe to, a 2Mbps broadband connection will cost around £10 per month at the moment. Once the 2Mbps connection has been upgraded customers will pay less that the £14 per month that is currently being paid by customers who have existing 10Mbps broadband connections and a virgin phone line.

In order to receive the online protection package Pcguard, which helps to stop pop-ups and prevent viruses the new customers who get a 10Mbps connection will, however, need to pay the more expensive rate.

Neil Berkett, the chief executive of Virgin Media said “Our entry-level broadband product is now twice the speed of comparable services and, with our new 10-20-50 range, we clearly offer the highest quality broadband service in the UK.”