Virgin Media has announced the latest round of speed increases for its broadband customers, along with a new top-tier package that"s a good deal faster than anything it"s delivered so far. Virgin"s customers can currently opt for speeds of up to 152Mbps - but the new range-topping plan will increase this by almost a third.
However, unlike previous speed boosts, the company says it will contact customers "to explain how they can opt-in to an upgrade from 1 October 2015".
The upgrade will be the third speed increase that Virgin Media has delivered to its customers in the last five years - impressive, although not as frequent as the four price increases in three years that some of its broadband customers have been asked to accept. The latest price rise was revealed earlier this month, and will mean that some broadband-only customers will soon be paying nearly £7 more per month than they were in January 2013.
Under Virgin Media"s existing packages, customers can choose from speeds of up to 50Mbps, 100Mbps or 152Mbps. The new entry-level package will offer up to 70Mbps, with two "ultrafast" tiers sitting above it.
These tiers will come under a new "Vivid" brand from Virgin Media, which will be used to market all connections of 100Mbps or more. The company announced two Vivid plans today, offering speeds of up to 150Mbps and 200Mbps.
"By choosing to upgrade," Virgin Media says, "customers on even the lowest available package will receive broadband speeds at the top end of the range available from providers operating on the BT network."
Alongside its speed upgrades, Virgin Media has also begun a £3 billion programme to expand its fibre optic network to an additional four million homes and businesses across the UK.