Broadband.co.uk Blog: News
Regular Broadband-related news and comment from the Broadband.co.uk team.
All posts labeled News:
News stories relevant to broadband in the United Kingdom.
High speed broadband providers see significant speed increases, non-fibre broadband remains stable
Posted on 2012-05-01 18:49 in News
April 2012 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test continuing to increase in comparison to the levels achieved in March, coming in at a staggering 14.13Mb. Average upload speed increased to 1.9Mb.
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. BT Broadband's Infinity 2 will also be having an effect on speeds. Virgin Media hold steady at first place, and average download and upload speeds have increased significantly by 5.16Mb to 24.79Mb with upload speeds seeing a small increase to 2.6Mb.
BT Broadband take second place this month with their own significant speed gains. Download speeds are up by nearlt 4Mb this month, averaging at 13.4Mb and upload speeds are up by over 1Mb at 2.91Mb. While Fibre to the Cabinet provider Eclipse has dropped to third place, their average download speeds have increased by over 1Mb to 12.83Mb and upload speeds to 2.24Mb.
Plusnet came in at 4th place at 6.96Mb, a slight drop from last month. The best performing non-fibre-based provider was again BE and O2 (who share a common infrastructure) in at 5th place with 6.09Mb average download speed over their Local Loop Unbundled ADSL2+ service.
Virgin Media launch a new range of Collections
Posted on 2012-04-06 18:41 in News Offers
Virgin Media have revamped their TV, broadband and phone bundles, creating a new range of Collections. Each Collection offers super fast broadband of 30Mb or higher, Virgin Media's cutting edge TiVo service and a wide range of TV channels and on demand conent. The higher end Collections offer a great deal of additional channels and perks including an extra V HD box to view TV in a second room of your home. Each Collection has a range of additional options and upgrades available to suit a variety of customer needs:
Virgin Media Essential Collection
Virgin Media Premiere Collection
Virgin Media VIP Collection
Virgin Media TV, Broadband and Phone is also available without the bells and whistles with the new Starter Bundle:
The revamp corresponds with Virgin Media officially increasing their minimum download speed to 30Mb and their mid range packages to 60Mb. Customers interested in the 100Mb packages can take advantage of a price drop down to the level of Virgin Media's previous 50Mb range. That's twice the speed for the same price. Available stand alone or with a Virgin Media phoneline:
Virgin Media 30Mb Broadband
Virgin Media 60Mb Broadband
Virgin Media 100Mb Broadband
Virgin Media 30Mb Broadband plus Phone Weekends
Virgin Media 60Mb Broadband plus Phone Weekends
Virgin Media 100Mb Broadband plus Phone Weekends
Line rental £13.90 a month. Roll out of faster speeds is in progress and will continue throughout 2012.
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.
New guidelines for advertising maximum download speeds
Posted on 2011-10-19 13:05 in News
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) have published guidelines on how Internet Service Providers should be describing their speeds in advertisements. Currently ISPs advertise using 'up to' speeds based on the highest speed available in the most ideal situation. Unfortunately, these speeds are rarely achieved by the majority of broadband lines, making advertised speeds misleading, and confusing many potential customers in the process.
The new guidelines - which ISPs are expected to be following by April 1st, 2012 - state that ISPs can only claim to provide maximum speeds that at least 10% of their customers can achieve. ISPs will be expected to justify their advertised speeds every 6 months based on actual usage data, ensuring that figures are kept up to date.
While this is unlikely to affect maximum advertised speeds for Virgin Media cable (already well within the suggested guidelines) and should have little affect on Fibre to the Cabinet solutions such as BT Infinity, the advertised speeds for telephone line broadband (ADSL) may well drop from up to 20/24Mbps down to 18Mbps, or even 13Mbps, depending on the ISP.
In addition to these new advertised speed guidelines, new rules regarding the use of the term "unlimited" in reference to download allowances will also come into play.
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.
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