 |  | By Bruce Stevens Staff Writer Wednesday, 13 August 2008 |
BY the time London kicks off its Beijing-busting opening ceremonies in 2012, you should be receiving this page at speeds of up to 40 – 60Mbps if BT’s predictions are anything to go by.
Of course you could also be a Virgin Media customer at the time and receive it five times faster than that at a hair-straightening 200Mbps!
Bold prediction
Amid disappointing second quarter results (where it is reported to have lost almost 20,000 customers who appear not to have been seduced by Samuel L Jackson) Virgin Media has announced its bold prediction that BT’s hard ground 60Mbps will look tardy next to the possible 200Mbps fibre optic option.
Virgin Media is already rolling out 50Mbps broadband to replace its current 20Mbps top end package, and has recently upgraded all 4Mbps packages to a generous 10Mbps.
Virgin Media is able to offer speeds that BT and its partners cannot as it owns the underground fibre optic network while BT delivers its broadband via copper telephone wires.
40 times faster than today’s broadband
Virgin Media’s chief executive Neil Berkett said in the Guardian on Friday that by the time the Olympics roll into town, Virgin Media “will have” the technical capability of delivering speeds 40 times faster than today’s current average broadband speed.
“We are leading next generation access in this country,” he said.
If Virgin Media is able to make 200Mbps broadband a reality, this would put it ahead of even the most advanced internet access markets in Asia, assuming they are unable to improve on their current speeds in the next four years.
Differentiate
A massively faster broadband speed will help Virgin Media differentiate itself from its rivals who are currently outperforming the media giant.
Both BT and BSkyB gained around 2 and 4 times more customers respectively over the last quarter.
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Be | 24Mbps