Virgin Media Tops BT With 200Mb Broadband Speed

As BT pushes ahead with its plans for 60Mbps fibre optic broadband speeds by 2010, Virgin Media has now announced that its current network is capable of up to 200Mbps broadband.

The Chief Executive of Virgin Media, Neil Berkett, said, “We have an opportunity with our network to provide significantly higher speeds.”

Virgin Media’s current network offers broadband speeds of up to 50Mbps, but BT has since announced that its new fibre optic network will offer speeds of up to 60Mbps.

BT plan to have their new speeds ready for parts of the UK by 2010 and to 40% of UK homes & businesses by 2012, but Neil Berkett claims the transition to faster speeds will be a “function of timing”.

In his statement he said: “When we look at the market I don’t see us getting returns right now for 100 or 150Mbps broadband. As we work with application providers and content providers, there will be a natural point where we upgrade from 10, 20 and 50Mbps to something more.”

He continued, “If BT were to meet the time frame they have suggested – of finishing by 2012 – I would see us as having much faster upstream speeds together with running at a minimum of 100Mbps downstream and possibly more. You can see a real opportunity there.”

Only time will tell if BT can offer its new super-fast broadband speeds in the time stated. If not, then it seems there will be an even faster alternative available from its rival.