Virgin Media to hike prices alongside internet speeds

Virgin Media has announced that it will be delivering internet speeds early next year that will be twice as fast as any other widely available service – as well as upping telephone, television and broadband pricing plans by an average of 6.7%.

The UK broadband company is set to introduce an ultrafast 152Mb speed – more than 30Mb faster than its current highest offering – which Virgin Media claims is able to download an HD film in less than four minutes and a music album in under four seconds.

Consumer groups have said that customers will not welcome the news that will see price increases mid-contract. Speaking to the BBC, Dominic Baliszewski, from website broadbandchoices.co.uk, said: “This is probably the last time that customers will have to take this kind of price hike on the chin.

“New rules from Ofcom governing mid-contract price rises will come into effect from early 2014, forcing providers to give customers the opportunity to cancel their contract without financial penalty if they increase prices during their contract term.”

However, Tom Mockridge, CEO of Virgin Media, said: “As people connect more things simultaneously to the internet more often, they need powerful broadband with the bandwidth to deliver a great experience for everyone in the home.

“That connection is what we deliver with our unrivalled network. We are boosting speeds again and ensuring our customers can get even more value from their Virgin Media subscription. Our top speed will be twice as fast as BT and all the others reliant on their old copper telephony infrastructure as we extend our lead as Britain’s ultrafast broadband provider.”

Although Virgin Media’s new speeds rival competitors – double that of BT’s – BT has pointed out that its network is currently accessible by 17 million homes, whereas almost five million less have access to Virgin Media’s fibre network.