Today Virgin Media announced a new super-fast (XXL) broadband and our CEO Charlie Ponsonby was on BBC Breakfast first thing (see above) sharing his thoughts on it. Here’s a quick summary of his comments along with some background information from us:

“ Seeing really will be believing and we predict the difference will be remarkable. Even standard web surfing will seem a very different experience – with pages loading instantaneously - but the real difference will jump out when you try more data intensive online activities such as streaming high definition TV content, and of course online gaming.”

Virgin Media formally announced the launch of their revolutionary up to 50Mb/s ultra fast broadband service today. The service is over double the speed of the next fastest high speed broadband service available in the UK from Be Broadband and nearly 20 times faster than the average broadband speed achieved by UK households!

Virgin Media have been preparing for the launch for many months having successfully trialed the service in Kent earlier this year. The service uses the existing Virgin Media cable infrastructure (with some modifications) and requires the install of an upgraded broadband modem in the customer’s home.

The launch of the 50 Mb/s service in the UK, follows the trend elsewhere in the world, where fibre-optic cable broadband providers are starting to put clear blue water between themselves and their DSL competitors (who rely on the copper phone line network), by providing broadband speeds that the DSL competitors struggle to match without huge investment in the copper wire network infrastructure.

Kabel Deutschland, Germany’s largest cable operator is a great example – they use a sophisticated fibre-optic cable infrastructure and have successfully tested speeds of over 200 Mb/s. They have taken a conscious decision to aggressively market ultra fast broadband packages offering greater speeds than their DSL competitors, such as a 32 Mb/s service with phone for about £20 per month.

It seems that Virgin Media are adopting a similar strategy in the UK – that of shifting households’ expectations, such that any broadband speed under 20 or 30 Mb/s start to seem second rate. When you consider how quickly users’ expectations are already shifting as regards acceptable broadband speed, this seems a very plausible strategy. Remember that it is not all that long ago when households were perfectly happy with a 56 Kbit/s connection (which is 45 times slower than the average broadband speed now achieved in the UK).

Virgin Media do not have a completely free run at the world of ultra fast broadband in the UK. BT are still formally committed to their delayed “21CN upgrade” and continue to pilot its own fibre optic network – so called “fibre to the cabinet” which can deliver speeds of up to 40Mb/s; and the far more capital intensive “fibre to the home” which can deliver speeds of up to 100Mb/s and beyond. But BT’s plans are a long way from fruition and arguments are still raging as to how their investment will be paid for by on-sale to third party broadband providers.

“2009 will be a very interesting year for the UK broadband market, the launch of ultra fast broadband will really start to change people’s perceptions as to what is an acceptable broadband speed.”

“Indeed as we see an increasing blur between the TV set and the PC, with on-demand content flowing seamlessly between the two, people’s appetite for broadband speed will head rapidly upwards and today’s average of about 2 Mb/s will soon seem as inadequate as a 56 Kbit/s dialup connection already seems to the great majority of web users.”

“The market may well start to diverge in 2009 – with premium ultra fast broadband services commanding higher prices and margins for those able to deliver them, and the opposite end of the broadband market becoming yet more commoditised, with further downward pressure on prices”

When can you get the 50 Mb/s service?

To receive Virgin Media’s fibre optic broadband service you need to live in a Virgin Media cable area. Currently Virgin Media covers approx 12 million UK homes. But the new ultra fast broadband service will not initially be available to all Virgin media customers – indeed it will roll out region by region over the coming months, with Warrington in Cheshire the first up. Warrington was chosen to go first due to the very high proportion of existing Virgin Media high speed broadband customers.

Following the Warrington rollout, the “XXL” Virgin Broadband package will be gradually added to the firm’s 2Mb/s (”M”), 10Mb/s (”L”) and 20Mb/s (”XL”) offerings across the whole cable network.

Remember you can head on over to the Simplifydigital site to find the best broadband package and further information on the Virgin XXL broadband, using our Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Jonathan

Virgin Media customers will once again have access to Sky channels such as Sky1, Sky News and Sky Sports News after the company signed a new channel carriage deal with BSkyB.

Virgin Media subscribers lost access to the channels at the end of February 2007 after a disagreement between the two companies that escalated over the amount that Sky wanted to charge Virgin Media to have access to the channels. 

 Sky and Virgin have since resolved the issue after Virgin agreed to pay Sky £30m per year plus yearly incentives. As such Virgin subscribers can expect to see Sky channels back on their TV’s by the 15^th of November 2008. The channels include Sky1, Sky2, Sky3, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2.At the same time, Sky subscribers will continue to have access to Virgin Media TV’s basic channels, including Living, Bravo, Virgin 1 and Trouble.

Charlie Ponsonby, CEO of Simplifydigital, said: “This is a welcome end to the stand-off between Virgin Media and Sky with the customer the real winner”

Written by chris

There could be more good news on the way for TV viewers who want to watch their favourite shows in High Definition (HD).

Last week Ofcom announced that they are reserving two Freeview slots for new HD services. One of those slots is for ITV while the other has gone to Channel 4/S4C.

The BBC will also be broadcasting its HD service on Freeview and viewers in the Granada region should be able to watch these three services from late 2009.

The Freeview HD services will then be available on a region by region basis as the country gradually moves from analogue to digital TV over the next 4 years.

But viewers in some UK cities, including London, could be watching these HD channels sooner than was first thought.

Ofcom are looking at whether spectrum could be made temporarily available so that the new HD services on Freeview can be rolled out earlier.

Simplifydigital’s guide to HDTV

 High definition TV is still very young in the UK, but is well and truly coming of age – Beijing was the first Olympics in history to be broadcast in high definition and the BBC showed over 300 hours of HD content during the games. And Sky, the UK’s leading HD broadcaster, now has over half a million subscribers having only launched their service in mid 2006.

 Moreover, all the big players see HD as the “next big thing” for television in the UK and are investing heavily to greatly increase the variety of high definition (HD) content available to watch. But HD viewing doesn’t come cheap and the breadth and depth of content on offer varies significantly across the various platforms offering high definition content.

So what is “high definition” and does it live up to the hype?

 To view content in high definition you first need a “HD Ready” TV.  This is a TV set which has many more pixels per square inch (4 times more than a standard set) allowing it to show pictures in far greater detail and with much more vibrant colours, but only if the content that it is showing is being transmitted in high definition. So you will need the right TV and a set top box able to receive and decode a high definition signal. HD signals are also broadcast in surround sound making for a much richer sound as well as visual experience.

 So in a nutshell, to enjoy HDTV you will need to make sure you have the following:

1.      A TV capable of displaying high-definition pictures
2.      A receiver that can decode the high definition signal, such Sky’s HD box or Virgin’s V+ box
3.      A TV package that includes high definition programmes.

 What is currently shown in HD?

If you walk past a TV showing content in HD you will notice a big difference – in fact so proud are new HD viewers that they often ask their friends round to gawp at the clarity of the picture. Most viewers find that HD is particularly impressive for sporting events, documentaries and to a lesser extent movies and dramas. Football in HD for example is a huge improvement on the standard TV experience – with players (and the crowd!) visible in extraordinary clarity

What does it cost?

For the budget HD viewer who is happy to watch only BBC and ITV programming in HD, then Freesat is a good choice. A Freesat HD box will cost around £150, with an additional £80 for the satellite dish and installation. However there is no monthly cost and no contract. The HD content will feel limited, but Freesat does have the added attraction of many additional channels to watch in standard definition.

 For those looking for a bit more, then Virgin Media represents great value. In addition to the BBC and Channel 4 HD channels they also offer a vast library of high definition content available on-demand through their V+ box. Prices start at £15/month for the basic TV service with a phone line, plus £5 for the V+ subscription. The V+ box also lets you pause and record live TV.

 For anyone who is serious about watching HD, then Sky offers the largest selection of HD channels and programming in the UK, covering the whole spectrum of content – from all the premium sporting action, to a large range of movies and documentaries. The Sky+ HD box also has all the features of a Sky+ box so that you can pause and record live TV. Prices start at £17/month for the basic Sky TV package, plus £10/month for the

HD subscription.

Is HD right for me?

To find out more about the HD services that are available in your area, simply give one of our experts a call or use our online digital services comparison tool.

Written by lee