Virgin Media to focus on broadband

Virgin Media has decided to open up a new front in its ongoing battle with Sky.

After acting chief executive Neil Berkett admitted Virgin was not winning the war with Sky in the paid-for TV market, the cable giant said broadband will be its “hero service” in order to attract customers.

Although Virgin said it will continue with its TV packages, it said being able to offer broadband speeds of up to 50Mbits/sec will allow it to deliver services Sky cannot.

"Sky is dominant in the TV market and ahead of our game, so rather than continue to go head-to-head with it here, we decided to see where we could exploit our technology and offer unique services," a representative said.

Virgin said it was the only broadband supplier that could currently offer high-definition video-on-demand and interactive services because of its cable infrastructure. Currently customers in Ashford, Folkestone and Dover are testing a 50Mbits/sec service.

However, when Computeractive talked to various industry experts, they were more dubious. They said if Virgin intended to offer these services it needed to rethink its broadband traffic shaping policy introduced this year. This can see people's speeds limited at certain times of the day or for certain applications.

Andrew Ferguson, editor of thinkbroadband.com, a partner in our Crystal Clear broadband campaign, said: "At the moment Virgin would do better to not chase headline speeds and be clear about the limits it places on people and ensure it offers sustainable speeds.

"The complaints we are getting, especially about limits placed on its 20Mbits/sec service in addition to service congestion show this is not happening and, as the Crystal Clear campaign highlights, transparency in promised speeds is of real importance to people."

Jupiter Research analyst Ian Fogg agreed the industry as a whole needs to create more trust around their speeds and clarify the speed a person actually gets.

Computeractive's campaign has gained huge support since it launched. With the issue of delivering sustainable, transparent high-speed broadband connections now on the Government's agenda.

Computeractive's editor Paul Allen will speak at the next Westminster eForum on 21 November. He will talk alongside regulator Ofcom and Antony Walker chief executive of the Broadband Stakeholder Group.

There is still time to sign our petition urging telecoms regulator Ofcom to make internet service providers give clear information about the actual speed customers are likely to receive in the form of a 'typical rate'.

We believe this information should be made clear prior to subscription. We also believe Ofcom should introduce an independent speed-testing service for consumers, so that they can compare advertised maximum rates against actual broadband speed. In short, we want Crystal Clear Broadband contracts for UK consumers.