Virgin Media has announced that it will be launching a 100Mb broadband service by the end of 2010, which it says will become the fastest broadband internet service in the UK.

Virgin Media broadband customers will be the first in the country to get internet speeds which are more than 24 times faster than the average speed provided by other broadband providers, it says.

Billed as being designed for ‘tech-savvy users who want the very best the internet has to offer’, the new service means that Virgin Media will have increased its top tier internet speeds from 20Mb to 100Mb in less than two years.

Virgin Media broadband already delivers high speed internet to 12.6 million homes, and predicts that it will be able to deliver speeds ‘very close’ to those advertised.

The new 100Mb broadband service will allow users to download an album of music in five seconds, an hour long TV show in 31 seconds, or an HD movie in little more than seven minutes. According to Virgin Media, HD movies take almost two hours to download with even the fastest speeds available from other broadband providers.

Neil Berkett, Virgin Media’s chief executive officer, said of the new service: “There is nothing we can’t do with our fibre optic cable network, and the upcoming launch of our flagship 100Mb service will give our customers the ultimate broadband experience.

“Just as we led the way by launching the UK’s first ever next generation service, we want to keep giving our customers the very best broadband available, by investing in technological innovation and transforming the experience they have when they are online. The launch of Virgin Media’s 100Mb service will be a historic moment and will mean the UK will be comparable to other leading broadband nations.”

Commenting on how Virgin Media’s 100Mb broadband announcement has come soon after a similar product launch of BT Infinity, Michael Phillips, product director at BroadbandChoices.co.uk, said: “It’s encouraging to see Virgin Media and BT – the two largest broadband providers in the UK – both pushing forwards with the rollout of ever faster services.

He added, “there’s no denying that customers want faster speeds” and “for broadband providers to actually deliver the headline-grabbing speeds they advertise.”

A recent survey conducted by BroadbandChoices.co.uk found that customer satisfaction with broadband speeds is decreasing, so there is hope that Virgin Media’s new service will improve user experience.

© Fair Investment Company Ltd