Broadband.co.uk Blog: Announcements
Regular Broadband-related news and comment from the Broadband.co.uk team.
All posts labeled Announcements:
Broadband.co.uk site-related announcements and information.
Virgin Media speed increases drive up average UK broadband speeds
Posted on 2012-04-03 17:03 in Announcements News
March 2012 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test increasing in comparison to the levels achieved in February's result, coming in at 10.73Mb. Average upload speed increased to 1.48Mb.
Increased speeds are likely in large part due to the start of Virgin Media's roll out of double or better speeds for cable customers, which will continue throughout 2012 affecting all but their 100Mb service. Virgin Media's average download and upload speeds have increased significantly by 1.98Mb to 19.63Mb with upload speeds seeing a small increase to 2.48Mb. The trend sees Virgin Media's average download speeds increasing by 4Mb over the last two months.
Fibre to the Cabinet provider Eclipse maintained second place despite seeing a small decrease in average download speed to a 11.51Mb average and upload speeds to 1.77Mb. BT Broadband held third place and made speed gains, with download speeds averaging at 9.47Mb and upload speeds at 1.75Mb.
The best performing non-fibre-based provider was again BE and O2 (who share a common infrastructure) in at 5th place with 6.08Mb average download speed over their Local Loop Unbundled ADSL2+ service. Plusnet came in at 4th place at 7.27Mb, a significant gain on previous months, but this is likely due sign ups for their competitively priced FttC Plusnet Fibre product.
Broadband speeds continue to rise over February
Posted on 2012-03-01 15:48 in Announcements News
February 2012 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test increasing in comparison to the levels achieved in January's result, coming in at 9.32Mb. Average upload speed remained stable at 1.36Mb.
Virgin Media's average download and upload speeds have increased significantly by 2.3Mb to 17.65Mb and upload speeds were stable at 2.43Mb.
Fibre to the Cabinet provider Eclipse made an impressive recovery from their January drop, increasing their average download speed to a 12.27Mb average and upload speeds to 2.09Mb. BT Broadband also see improvements, with download speeds averaging at 8.57Mb and upload speeds at 1.54Mb.
The best performing non-fibre-based provider was again BE and O2 (who share a common infrastructure) in at 4th place with 6.03Mb average download speed over its Local Loop Unbundled ADSL2+ service.
Increase in average broadband speeds over January
Posted on 2012-02-01 14:20 in Announcements News
January 2012 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test increasing in comparison to the levels achieved in December's result, coming in at 8.21Mb. Average upload speed also increased to 1.31Mb.
Virgin Media's average download and upload speeds have increased to 15.33Mb and 2.46Mb respectively.
Fibre to the Cabinet provider Eclipse drop from last months speeds, with a 9.65Mb average download speed and 1.53Mb upload speed. BT Broadband remain stable this month, with download speeds averaging at 7.52Mb and upload speeds at 1.45Mb.
The best performing non-fibre-based provider was again BE and O2 (who share a common infrastructure) in at 5th place with 5.62Mb average download speed over its Local Loop Unbundled ADSL2+ service.
Average broadband speeds remain stable in December, with BT taking a slight drop
Posted on 2012-01-03 18:48 in Announcements News
December 2011 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test generally maintaining the levels achieved in November's result, coming in at 7.58Mb. Average upload speed also remained stable 1.16Mb.
Virgin Media's average download and upload speeds have held reasonably steady at 14.24Mb and 2.23Mb respectively.
Likewise, Fibre to the Cabinet provider Eclipse match last months speeds, with a 10.59Mb average download speed and a slight increase to a 1.88Mb upload speed. BT Broadband take a 0.5Mb drop this month, with download speeds averaging at 7.64Mb and upload speeds at 1.3Mb.
The best performing non-fibre-based provider was again BE and O2 (who share a common infrastructure) who retained 4th place with 5.67Mb average download speed over its Local Loop Unbundled ADSL2+ service.
Average broadband speeds stable in November, with notable improvements for Eclipse and BT
Posted on 2011-12-01 19:17 in Announcements News
November 2011 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test remaining generally stable compared to October's result, with a 0.45Mb increase to 7.48Mb. Average upload speed also remained stable with a 0.06Mb increase to 1.26Mb.
After an increase in speed last month, Virgin Media's average download dropped quite a bit to 14.30Mb, though upload speeds remain stable at 2.45Mb.
Fibre to the Cabinet provider Eclipse continues to see significant gains, rising to a 10.59Mb average download speed and 1.66Mb upload speed. BT Broadband also saw a healthy speed gain this month, with download speeds averaging at 8.12Mb and upload speeds at 1.44Mb.
The best performing non-fibre-based provider was again BE and O2 (who share a common infrastructure) who retained 4th place with 5.49Mb average download speed over its Local Loop Unbundled ADSL2+ service.
Average broadband speeds drop in October despite gains for Virgin Media and Eclipse
Posted on 2011-11-03 18:30 in Announcements News
October 2011 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test drop compared to September's result, falling by 0.51Mb down to 7.48Mb. Average upload speed remained stable with a 0.06Mb drop to 1.20Mb.
Despite the overall downward trend, Virgin Media's average download and upload speeds saw significant gains, rising to 15.18Mb and 2.47Mb respectively. This increase comes as Virgin Media issued a press release boasting the ability to now offer 100Mb broadband to a third of UK households.
Fibre to the Cabinet provider Eclipse, who recently launched cheaper consumer-focus FttC broadband packages, also saw significant gains, rising to an impressive 9.27Mb average download speed and 1.42Mb upload speed.
Unfortunately almost all other ISPs saw their average speeds drop, perhaps due to the darker autumn evenings causing an increase in peak time congestion as more broadband users turn to their computers, on demand video systems and games consoles for entertainment.
The best performing non-fibre-based provider was again BE and O2 (who share a common infrastructure) who retained 4th place with 5.95Mb average download speed over its Local Loop Unbundled ADSL2+ service.
Average broadband speeds stable in September but FttC suppliers see gains
Posted on 2011-10-03 13:45 in Announcements News
September 2011 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test remain stable compared to August's result with a drop of only 0.06Mb down to 8Mb. Average upload speed also remained stable with a 0.05Mb gain to 1.26Mb.
Despite the stable overall result, individual ISPs saw significant changes. Virgin Media's average download speed again dropped after gains in July, now averaging 14.79Mb, but FttC providers BT Broadband and Eclipse saw gains in their average speeds, up to 7.84Mb and 7.3Mb respectively, presumably due to the continued rollout of Fibre to the Cabinet to new telephone exchanges allowing more customers to switch from up to 20Mb ADSL services to the faster BT Infinity and Eclipse Fibre services.
The best performing non-fibre-based provider was BE and O2 (who share a common infrastructure) who took 4th place with 6.69Mb average download speed over its Local Loop Unbundled ADSL2+ service.
Average broadband speeds fall in August, but with notable improvements for Eclipse
Posted on 2011-09-01 17:12 in Announcements News
August 2011 saw average download speeds recordered by users of our Broadband Speed Test drop from last month's results to 8.06Mb, with average upload speeds holding stable at 1.21Mb due to the higher upload speeds available from Virgin Media and Fibre to the Cabinet providers. This pattern is pretty consistent across most of the ISPs listed, with the notable exception of Eclipse. Their figures rose significantly, with average download speeds at 7.15Mb and average upload speads breaking the 1Mb barrier at 1.20Mb, likely due to a pick up in their FttC deals. Likewise, BT also saw an increase in average speeds over last month, though to a lesser extent than Eclipse, clocking in download speeds at 7Mb and upload speeds at 1.20Mb.
Virgin Media held steady with average upload speeds at 2.48Mb, though average download speeds dropped to 16.97Mb. However, with Virgin Media rolling out upgrades for their high-end 100Mb service across the country, these figures will likely increase significantly in future months.
Student Broadband Buying Guide
Posted on 2011-08-16 20:06 in Announcements Features
Students rely on Internet access. Be it registering for courses, receiving important news via email, downloading course content, researching their subject or submitting coursework, much of their work takes place online. Combine this with their usual online activity and social networking, and it becomes vital that they have a good Internet connection available in their digs.
There's a lot to consider when finding and moving into student housing. Signing up for an appropriate broadband package that's suitable for student use on a student budget can be a daunting task. We've put together a new a comprehensive guide to student broadband to help make the research and buying process easier.
The guide covers issues such as contract length, price, considerations of shared housing and the best packages to choose if you enjoy gaming. It also features ten hand picked broadband deals that are especially suited to student households and looks at the strengths and pitfalls of using mobile broadband for student use.
Average broadband speeds rise as Virgin Media surges ahead
Posted on 2011-08-02 19:27 in Announcements News
July 2011 saw the average download and upload speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test rise to 8.31Mb download and 1.22Mb upload! These are significant rises over last month's 6.69Mb and 1.03Mb. The increase is mainly fueled by Virgin Media who saw its average download speed surge forward by 6Mbps, clocking in at 17.4Mb across all speed tests performed in July. The cable operator's average upload speed also rose to 2.49Mb across the same period.
Virgin Media has recently announced that more customers than ever are opting to take packages of 30Mb or higher download speed, with cheaper prices for mid-range speeds thanks to the recent introduction of the high end 100Mb service which continues to roll out across cable enabled areas. Existing customers are also being offered incentives to upgrade from the provider's entry level 10Mb service.
Virgin Media engineers are a good way through the process of rolling out faster upload speeds region-by-region, automatically upgrading all cable customers to an upload speed at 10% of their download speed. The speed upgrade, which is due to be completed next month, means that all customers should see their upload speed at least double 2010 levels, while those on faster packages will see an increase of more than three times.
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