Start Something Today

Good for (some) consumers

If you are in business today you have probably realised the need to have a web presence but what about how you get connected to the WEB. The battle between copper wired and fibre optic connections continues to develop. Anyone serious about need ing high speed connectivity has to opt for fibre optics. BT has made some very strong statements about having plans to roll out a fibre optic system but Virgin media already has one – don’t miss out – check it out.

BT aroused a fair bit of attention yesterday when it announced 29 locations that would receive its ‘super-fast’ fibre-optic broadband next year.

However, Virgin Media is already offering similar speeds to those promised by BT in a number of areas and so looks to have a significant head start over BT. It’s also predicting speeds of up to 150 Mb/s in the not too distant future.

Virgin Media isn’t officially commenting on the BT announcement, but its press office provided us with this list of locations already able to receive 50 Mb/s:

* Essex
* Hertfordshire
* Bedfordshire
* London
* Greater Manchester
* Belfast
* Edinburgh
* Glasgow
* Cardiff
* Rhondda Cynon Taf
* Yorkshire

It also pointed us to this map illustrating the extent of Virgin Media cable coverage in the UK.

One problem for Virgin Media is that it doesn’t have anything to offer those areas it still doesn’t cover, whereas everyone can get something from BT. However, it is insisting that over 12 million homes will have access to its 50 Mb/s service by the end of the Summer. Either way, this looks like good news for the consumer.

HEXUS

UPDATE – 16:30 24 March 2009

Tags: Bedfordshire, Belfast, Business Today, Cardiff, Copper, Edinburgh Glasgow, Essex, Extent, Fibre Optics, Greater Manchester, Head Start, Hertfordshire, One Don, Optic Connections, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Speed Connectivity, Virgin Media, Web Presence, Yorkshire