Virgin Media has launched a home broadband service that runs at speeds 20 times faster than the UK average.
Southampton is the first city to be connected to Virgin Media’s Gig1 footprint. It comes ahead of a national rollout plan that will see 15 million homes connected across Great Britain as part of parent Liberty Global’s GigaCities programme.
Already 100,000 homes in Southampton can take advantage of Gig1 at a cost of £62 (€70) per month.
Jeff Dodds, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Media, said: “By launching our hyperfast Gig1 services in Southampton today, we’re marking the start of next-generation gigabit connectivity across our entire network at a speed and scale unmatched by anyone else.”
The announcement coincides with the start of the Conservative Party Conference, with an investment in broadband one of a number of planned investments unveiled, ahead of an anticipated general election.
“I am pleased Virgin shares our ambition to boost the UK’s connectivity by investing in the fastest and most reliable broadband speeds. This will mean people can really take advantage of the digital revolution,” said Nicky Morgan MP, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. “We are also investing heavily to make sure the whole country can capitalise on next generation broadband and are committed to creating the right opportunities for industry to push ahead with nationwide rollout.”
Customers opting for the Gig1 service will be issued with the new Hub 4 router, which features more antennae than its predecessor, and with it an ability to connect to more devices.
In the past few weeks Liberty Global has made a number of GigaCities rollouts. Last week, Telenet, Liberty Global’s consumer brand in Belgium, launched Gigabit speeds across Flanders and Brussels, expanding the network to more than 3 million connectable houses and businesses in the region.
UPC Switzerland, also launched 1 Gigabit speeds across its entire footprint last week, both in cities and rural areas. As a result, more than 75 percent of all Swiss households can benefit from the deployment.
12 GigaCity deployments in Poland and three in Slovakia earlier this year.
